Voters face queues and accessibility problems in elections in Minas Gerais
Quick Look
- Voters in Minas Gerais face long lines to vote, with cases of waiting longer than four hours and accessibility problems, while the Electoral Court replaces faulty ballot boxes and investigates candidate use of cell phones in the booth.
- As of 3:30 pm, 118 ballot boxes had been replaced in the state, representing 0.22% of the total.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The elections in Minas Gerais take place in a context of high electoral participation, with reports of long queues and accessibility challenges at polling stations, in addition to technical issues related to electronic voting machines and monitoring the use of mobile devices in voting booths.
At 5pm, polling stations close and votes begin to be counted, but voters who are in line at that time still have the right to vote. Understand. Follow the results in real time on G1.
Surveyor and civil engineer José Gustavo de Rezende spent more than four hours in line to vote, at the Carlos Drumond State School, in the Floramar neighborhood, in the North Region of Belo Horizonte. He arrived at 11am and was still waiting to be called at around 3:20pm.
"I chose lunch time thinking it would be faster, right? That people would be having lunch. But we are still here in concentration to be able to carry out the vote," he said.
Retired Glaucira Amélia Pereira Venâncio, 70 years old, had a leg amputated and started using a wheelchair. As her voting station is on the second floor, and the place does not have an accessibility ramp, the ballot box was taken to the first floor so she could vote. Glaucira votes at a state school in Betim, in Greater BH.
"The ballot box came to me, I thought it was cute. Everything went well. [...] It's my pleasure to vote, I insist," he said.
As of 3:30 pm, 118 electronic voting machines had been replaced by the Electoral Court in Minas Gerais, which represents around 0.22% of the total of 52,062 devices in the state. According to the coordinator of the Integrated Security Office (GSI) of TRE-MG, judge Paulo de Tarso Tamburini, the replacement of ballot boxes can occur in cases of failures and crashes when starting the equipment. The votes already computed on the device that presented a problem are transferred to another ballot box, following all security protocols to preserve the integrity of the vote.
The general director of TRE-MG, Rodolfo Pacheco, stated this Sunday (4) that the Public Electoral Ministry has already presented an action related to the use of cell phones in the voting booth by presidential candidate Romeu Zema (Novo). According to him, the case will still be analyzed by the Electoral Court and there is no provision for an immediate judgment. Braga highlighted that the process will follow the normal course and that the merits of the action will be assessed later by the court's judges. Read the full report.
The PT candidate for the senate in Minas Gerais, Marília Campos, voted shortly at the Helena Guerra State School, in Contagem.
Before that, she talked to voters and took photos.
The PT candidate for the government of Minas, Patrus Ananias, arrived at PUC Minas, this Sunday morning (4) to vote.
He is accompanied by the candidate for vice president, Jarbas Soares, the candidate for the senator for Minas Gerais, Áurea Carolina, the candidate for Federal Deputy Rogério Correia and supporters.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The Public Electoral Ministry will analyze the action regarding the use of cell phones in the voting booth by candidate Romeu Zema.
Likely · Within weeks
New replacements of electronic voting machines may occur if additional faults are identified during the count.
Possible · Within hours
Open Questions
- What was the average waiting time at polling stations in Minas Gerais?
- How many people had accessibility difficulties when voting?
- What was the final result of the investigation in Minas Gerais?
- Will the Electoral Public Prosecutor's Office maintain the action against Romeu Zema's use of cell phones in the booth?







