Voters face long lines at polling stations in Ceará this Sunday (4). TRE-CE justifies that the delay is expected due to the 6 positions in dispute.
To speed up the process, the Electoral Court recommends taking a piece of paper with the numbers. It also advises checking the polling place before leaving.
The Elections Secretary explained that the process requires 25 clicks on the ballot box. The TRE suggests the period between 11am and 3pm as it records lower flow.
Until 11am this Sunday (4), Ceará recorded 72 incidents involving electronic voting machines, 11 of which needed to be replaced. Reports can be made through the Pardal app.
Voters face long queues at several polling stations in Ceará this Sunday (4), the day of the first round of elections. There are complaints of delays in different cities across the state. According to the Regional Electoral Court of Ceará (TRE-CE), however, the formation of queues in some locations is expected due to the number of positions that need to be chosen in this election.
According to Lorena Moraes, Secretary of Elections at TRE-CE, the electoral offices informed the Electoral Court about the formation of queues in some locations. She explained that voting tends to be slower because it is a general election, in which each voter needs to make six choices.
This Sunday, Ceará voters vote for:
Federal deputy;
State deputy;
Senator — 1st vote;
Senator — 2nd vote;
Governor;
President of the Republic.
Voting for the Senate requires two votes because two seats are up for grabs in the state.
"We are in a general election, with six positions. So, an election that naturally tends to be a slower election," stated Lorena.
According to the secretary, poll workers are advised to adopt procedures that can speed up service. An example is carrying out tasks in parallel: while a voter is at the electronic ballot box, the section secretary can check the documents of the next voters waiting in line.
The TRE also advises voters to adopt some measures to reduce waiting times.
One of them is to check the location and voting station in advance. Another recommendation is to arrive at the location with an identification document in hand, facilitating the presentation procedure at the reception desk.
The Electoral Court also recommends that voters take a paper "glue" with the candidates' numbers. The measure helps to reduce time inside the voting booth.
"Take your votes written down on a piece of paper, so that when you enter the voting booth, it takes as little time as possible inside the booth", advised Lorena.
For those who have not yet voted, the TRE recommends, if possible, giving preference to the period between 11am and 3pm. According to Lorena, historically this interval records a smaller flow of voters.
There is, however, no defined average time for each vote. The duration varies according to each voter.
The secretary explained that, considering all the steps, it takes 25 clicks on the electronic ballot box, between entering candidate numbers and confirmations. The time may be even longer if the voter needs to correct a choice.
In addition to the queues, TRE-CE also recorded incidents related to electronic voting machines throughout the morning. As of 11am this Sunday, there were 72 occurrences throughout Ceará, according to the Elections Secretary.
Of the total, 11 electronic voting machines needed to be replaced.
Lorena highlighted that the Elections Department specifically monitors events related to the polls. Information about electoral crimes, such as exit polling, is monitored by other sectors.
The advice for anyone who witnesses any irregularity is to contact the police forces present in the vicinity of the voting locations or register the incident using the Pardal app. According to the TRE, complaints registered by the application are forwarded to the Public Ministry for investigation.
