It is false that there are ballot boxes with 1,500 voters

False: There is no polling station that recorded 1,500 votes, contrary to what the video claims. According to the Electoral Code, the maximum limit of eligible voters per section is 400 voters in capitals and 300 in other locations. However, the legislation provides that the rates may be exceeded to facilitate voting. The Electoral Justice Open Data Portal shows that there were polling stations in Brazil with up to 600 eligible voters. Abroad, where there is only voting for the office of President of the Republic, the limit found was 800 voters.

investigated content🇧🇷 Post on TikTok which reproduced an excerpt from the live of federal deputy Coronel Tadeu (PL-SP) together with Argentine businessman Fernando Cerimedo in which they claimed that there were polling stations with 1,500 voters, which would be indicative of electoral fraud. In the video, they claim that, as the average voting time for a voter in the first round was one minute and polling stations are open for 540 minutes (9 hours, from 8 am to 5 pm), it would not be possible for polling stations to have more than 540 voters. “If a person takes a minute to vote, they can only vote a maximum of 540.” “You have 9h of voting, 540 min. If he found 1,500 votes in a ballot box that could only have 540, it means that each person voted in 20 seconds”. “It is a sign that votes were inserted in the ballot box”, they conclude.

where it was published: TikTok.

Conclusion of Comprova: The allegations made by federal deputy Coronel Tadeu (PL-SP) and Argentine businessman Fernando Cerimedo, according to which there would be ballot boxes with 1,500 votes, are false. There is no polling station with that number of voters. In addition, the sections with the highest number of eligible voters are from abroad, where Brazilians vote only for the office of President of the Republic.

But there are no sections with 1,500 votes. According to art. 117 of the Electoral Code, the sections must not have more than 400 voters in the capitals and 300 in the other cities. The minimum threshold is 50 voters per section. However, the article provides that, in exceptional and justified cases, it is possible to exceed the predicted rates, as long as this facilitates voting, bringing the voter closer to the designated place for voting.

Election data, available on the Open Data Portal, were consulted. Information indicates that there were polling stations in Brazil with up to 600 eligible voters. Abroad, where there is only voting for the position of President of the Republic, the limit found was 800 eligible voters.

In the video, those responsible claim that it is impossible for more than 540 people to vote in a single ballot box during the first round of the electoral dispute, when voters chose candidates for five positions. The average voting time quoted is close to the real one: the Brazilian took, on average, 61.81 seconds to vote in the first roundaccording to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).

TSE data show that, considering the first and second rounds, only 22 polling stations had more than 540 voters who showed up to vote. The number represents 0.0042% of the voting spaces for the Brazilian election. They were all located abroad, where voting tends to be quicker.

Comprova considers false any content invented or edited to change its original meaning and deliberately released to spread a falsehood.

publication reach: Comprova investigates suspicious content with greater reach on social networks. The video on TikTok was deleted, but, through a screenshot, it is possible to verify that the publication reached more than 31.6 thousand likes and 11.3 thousand shares.

What the person responsible for the publication says: Deputy Coronel Tadeu and Argentine businessman Fernando Cerimedo were approached by Comprova, but did not respond until the publication of this check.

Coronel Tadeu already had content verified by the Comprova Project. In September, we proved to be false that the president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) said that ”nurses are only good for serving soup, we need more doctors”🇧🇷 The misinformation was shared by the politician in a video published on his own YouTube channel. The TSE ordered the content removal🇧🇷 Posteriorly, the deputy had suspended social media accounts by judicial decisions, due to publications that supported anti-democratic demonstrations or pointed out alleged fraud in the polls without presenting evidence.

Fernando Cerimedo, responsible for La Derecha Diario, is declared supporter of the family of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL)🇧🇷 Recently, the proves pointed out that, during a live broadcast made by the Argentine, a report was presented with false information about alleged fraud in the 2022 presidential elections in Brazil.

How do we check: We contacted the TSE press office for clarification. We searched for articles and reports about the average voting time of voters, and we found a post on the TSE website and report by Jornal Nacional🇧🇷

Furthermore, we consulted the Electoral Justice Open Data Portal, which provides information about polling stations in spreadsheet format. The information can be obtained from the data set called “Results – 2022”🇧🇷 The resources were available in the “Detail of the calculation by Electoral Section” folder.

There is no polling station with 1,500 voters

According to art. 117 of the Electoral Code, the sections must be organized as applications for registration are accepted. In addition, they will not have more than 400 voters in the capitals and 300 in other locations, nor less than 50 voters.

However, the law guarantees that, in exceptional and justified cases, the regional courts may authorize the indices provided for in the article to be exceeded in order to facilitate the exercise of voting, bringing the voter closer to the designated place for voting.

Among the 472,075 sections spread across 5,570 municipalities Brazilians and in 181 cities abroad, there is no one with 1,500 eligible voters. Data from the Electoral Court, available in the data set called “Results – 2022”, show that the maximum number of eligible voters registered was 800. This number only occurred in polling stations abroad, where people vote only for the office of President of the Republic. Within Brazilian territory, the limit found in polling stations was 600 eligible voters.

Average voting time

O TSE indicates that the average time between the beginning and end of voting in Brazilwhere the majority of the electorate chooses representatives for the five positions in dispute, was 61.81 seconds per voter in the first round. Citizens who vote abroad or in transit in Brazil choose only the candidate for the presidency of the Republic and, therefore, it is common for the process to be more agile. The smallest verified voting interval was at a polling station located in Warsaw, Poland, where voters completed the process in 10.63 seconds.

The survey also points out that the average activation time, including the interval in which the title is entered into the polling station’s terminal and the voter’s identification, is 22.99 seconds. “It is important to point out that the polling station representatives are instructed to start assisting the next voter while the first voter is still voting. The instruction aims to speed up voting and reduce waiting time in queues at polling stations”, states the Court. The qualification and voting processes in the ballot boxes together reached an average of 84.80 seconds.

In the second round of the 2022 elections, shows article from Jornal Nacional, the Electoral Justice predicted that each person would take only 20 seconds to vote. In total, 156 million voters were able to choose the president, but in 12 states (which represents 55% of the total), they also voted for governor.

Attendance

Voting time is not relative to the number of eligible voters, but takes into account only those who attend their polling stations. Thus, based on one minute as the average voting time for each person, the polling stations would hold numbers close to 540 voters as they remain open for nine hours (540 minutes), referring to the official voting period, from 9 am to 5 pm.

It is also necessary to take into account that voters who were still in the queues could vote normally even after 5 pm, when the voting space would be open for 540 minutes.

According to open data from the TSE, considering the first and second rounds, 22 polling stations had more than 540 voters who showed up to vote. The number represents 0.0042% of the voting spaces for the Brazilian election. Among them, 18 had turnouts above 540 voters in both the first and second rounds; 3 only in the first round and 1 only in the second. All of them were located abroad, where voting tends to be more agile, as people only voted for the president.

why do we investigate: Comprova investigates suspicious content that went viral on social media about the pandemic, public policies of the federal government or that question the result of the presidential elections. Information that uses invented data to spread falsehood about the electoral system harms the entire democratic process.

Other checks on the topic: Recently, Comprova showed that Boletins de Urnas video showing Bolsonaro with more votes than Lula does not prove fraud🇧🇷 what polling stations that do not appear on the TSE website were added to other is that external audits attest to the reliability of the electoral system in the 1st round🇧🇷

Investigated by: Uol and Metrópoles; Verified by: Gaúcha ZH, Plural Curitiba, Crusoé, Imirante.com, Estado de Minas, Estado de SP, Folha de SP, CBN Cuiabá, A Gazeta and O Dia