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OAS praises Brazil’s election, raises concerns about misinformation

The Organization of American States (OAS) described the Brazilian election as a civic and peaceful process and praised the Superior Electoral Court and the Regional Electoral Courts for demonstrating “significant technical, logistical, and organizational capacity.” The OAS has been in Brazil over the past few days with 91 independent observers monitoring the local electoral process. These observations are part of the preliminary report released on Tuesday (Oct. 6) by the Organization. Notícias relacionadas:OAS to send international mission to monitor elections in Brazil.Electoral Court: Vote counting is transparent, auditable, secure.The document also highlights the broad participation of researchers, academics, and experts in testing the voting machines, the increase in biometric data registration to 89 percent since the 2024 elections, and the expansion of electronic services available through the “Autoatendimento” platform and the e-Título mobile app. While attesting to the fairness of the election, the organization also reported “a climate of tension and strong political polarization, marked by excessive judicial involvement, personal confrontations, and disinformation narratives intended to sow distrust in the integrity of the electronic voting system.” Points of concern Regarding points of concern, the OAS highlighted the absence of an electoral debate between the candidates for the country’s president and vice president, but acknowledged that numerous debates were held among gubernatorial candidates. The report also cited the “lack of harmonized legal criteria within the Electoral Court regarding the use of real or AI-generated images of individuals barred from participating in politics in both digital and physical campaign materials.”