The Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet Branco, stated that the Public Ministry “will act to prevent the infiltration of criminal organizations in the electoral process”. In a meeting with regional electoral prosecutors who will monitor compliance with the rules throughout the country, he called for “firm and neutral” action to contain abuses and pressures that could compromise voters’ freedom of choice.
Combating political violence against women and disinformation are also among the priorities listed by Gonet, who also serves as electoral attorney general.
“We have to work so that voters can form their opinions freely, without economic, psychological or political pressures,” said Gonet.
Information about the MP Electoral strategy was released by the PGR Social Communication Secretariat. The meeting brings together, in Brasília, around 30 prosecutors from the Public Electoral Ministry.
For two days, they will debate issues related to candidacy registration, gender quota fraud, political violence, misinformation, abuse of power, accountability and other details of the election. The objective is to define action strategies to monitor this year’s dispute.
According to Gonet, one of the biggest concerns is “preventing the influence of criminal factions in the financing and promotion of candidates or in the choice of voters”. In the last municipal elections, the Electoral MP managed to block in court the registration of candidates for councilor involved with criminal groups. For this year, the Electoral Attorney General’s Office created a working group (GT) to provide support to promoters and prosecutors in this activity.
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The GT will assist in the collection of strategic data and maintain permanent dialogue with the Special Action Groups to Combat Organized Crime (Gaecos) and the Intelligence Centers of the Federal Public Ministries, States and the Federal District and Territories. “We need to be attentive to the signs and dedicate all our efforts to confront any attempt by organized crime to infiltrate the electoral process”, he reinforced.
The prosecutor also highlighted the need to combat the spread of false or decontextualized news, especially on social networks, which attempt to weaken the electoral process and democracy. “We must be prepared to act energetically and neutrally to combat abuses to preserve democratic values,” said Gonet.
Political violence
During the meeting, the Deputy Attorney General for Electoral, Alexandre Espinosa, highlighted the importance of preventing and combating political violence against women, “to ensure greater female participation in politics and decision-making positions”.
The Electoral MP has a working group related to the topic, which monitors around 300 cases of gender-based political violence in the country.
The practice has been considered an electoral crime since 2021, with penalties that can vary from 1 year to 4 years in prison. It is up to the Public Prosecutor’s Office to file a complaint against the attackers in court. Since 2021, around 50 complaints have been filed calling for the punishment of attackers.
