Experts criticize Brazil TSE president's decision to suspend election poll

Experts have strongly criticized the decision by Kassio Nunes Marques, president of Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE), to suspend a poll by AtlasIntel. The suspended survey indicated a six-percentage-point decrease in the voter intention for Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), placing him behind President Lula (PT) in a potential second-round scenario.

João Francisco Meira, president of the Public Opinion Council (COP) of the Brazilian Association of Research Companies (Abep), labeled the decision "an act of censorship" and "unconstitutional." With 40 years of experience, Meira argued that the suspension is based on fragile reasoning and infringes upon the freedom to publish research. He noted that the poll's findings are already in the public domain, rendering the suspension practically useless.

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Trata-se de um ato de censura à pesquisa baseado em um argumento fraco. Não há previsão constitucional para suspender a publicação de uma pesquisa. Isso é inconstitucional e fere a liberdade de divulgação de pesquisas.

Meira specifically addressed the TSE president's justification, which cited concerns that an audio recording of a conversation between Flávio Bolsonaro and a banker, presented late in the survey, might have influenced the voter intention results. Meira countered that the questions about voter intention appear early in the questionnaire, long before the audio is presented. He also stated that changing one's mind during an interview is normal and does not invalidate the results, emphasizing that freedom of opinion is a fundamental right.

Critics like Meira find the suspension "inopportune" and "out of context," viewing it as an unfavorable start to Nunes Marques's tenure as TSE president. They hope his colleagues on the court will provide a more balanced approach to such matters.

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E além de lamentável do ponto de vista ético e normativo, a decisão é inútil do ponto de vista prático, já que a pesquisa já é de domínio público.