Brazil Supreme Court Ministers See 'Extremist Shift' in Flávio Bolsonaro's Voting Machine Claims; TSE President Downplays Remarks

At least three ministers of Brazil's Supreme Court (STF) view Senator Flávio Bolsonaro's recent statements about electronic voting machines as an "extremist shift," drawing parallels to rhetoric seen in the United States. These ministers perceive that the pre-candidate has abandoned a moderate discourse during his pre-campaign, a move considered a strategic error by the "centrão" political bloc.

However, the president of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Kassio Nunes Marques, has reportedly told associates that Bolsonaro's declarations to foreign ambassadors are less severe than those made by his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, during the 2022 election campaign. Flávio Bolsonaro had claimed that the US denounced fraud in Venezuela's elections and that the voting machines used there are from the same company supplying Brazil's equipment, a claim that is factually incorrect.

While the TSE has not publicly commented on the false assertion, it did republish an old clarification on its "Fact or Fiction" section. This note stated that Smartmatic, the company that supplied machines to Venezuela, never sold equipment to Brazil. Critics within the Supreme Court argue that the TSE should not minimize Bolsonaro's false comparison between Venezuelan and Brazilian voting machines, especially given that Flávio appears to be replicating a discourse by former President Donald Trump, potentially opening the door for external interference in elections.

One minister described the statements as "absurd," noting that the TSE has precedents where spreading fake news about voting machines can lead to ineligibility, as happened with Jair Bolsonaro. Kassio Nunes Marques, however, reportedly sees distinctions between the two cases. He suggested that Bolsonaro explicitly spoke of suspected fraud, whereas Flávio claimed he was merely asking ambassadors for their countries to send observers. Marques also pointed out that Bolsonaro, as president and a candidate for re-election at the time, used state resources for his claims, which he believes does not apply to Flávio's situation. Other TSE ministers, however, consider the disinformation spread by Flávio to be serious and warranting attention, potentially signaling the start of a "coup" escalation similar to that engineered by Bolsonaro.