Brazil military finds no fraud in election, but refuses to rule it out
A military panel investigating the July 1 election of president Dilma Rousseff has dismissed allegations of fraud by her chief of staff, Eduardo Cunha, as “unrealistic” and “insignificant”
By Carlos Casais | The Monitor
Brazil: A day after Brazilian officials said the July 1 presidential election was free and fair, a military panel investigating the matter has told delegates that it has not found any fraud.
However, the 10-member committee, which includes eight military and two civilians, concluded that it’s unlikely any of Rousseff’s staff “intermediated” with the results during the vote on which she was leading by more than 200,000 votes.
In their first public comments on the issue, the panel of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) – composed of six civilians and four military officers – said on Tuesday that “the number of votes cast on the day was not influenced by any interference made by any of the candidates or their staff.” No details were provided.
“The TSE has not found any evidence of irregularities in the voting process on July 1,” said the panel in a report that was leaked to Brazilian publications and broadcast on the eve of the country’s annual independence day.
The panel’s remarks follow those of the TSE yesterday, which said there was no proof that any official had influenced the votes in any way.
“Considering that, although it is possible to suggest that the candidates and their staff had some influence on the process, we have not found any evidence of this,” the TSE said in its statement.
The findings come after Cunha on Monday said that in his meeting with Rousseff that day he had agreed in principle to vote for her, and that his decision was not coerced.
Cunha, who is accused of laundering the huge offshore tax losses of his close family, has said he did it reluctantly,