Zema Filmed With Phone in Voting Cabin

Overview

• The candidate Romeu Zema was filmed using a cellphone inside a voting cabin while voting in Araxá on Sunday, October 4, a move that breaks rules set by Brazil's electoral authorities.
• Article 91-A of the Elections Law bars carrying phones, cameras or similar devices into the voting cabin and requires voters to leave them with poll workers before using the electronic ballot.
• TRE-MG president Carlos Henrique Perpétuo Braga said the court opened an inquiry, called the act irregular and warned it can characterize a violation of vote secrecy punishable under Article 312 of the Electoral Code with potential detention of up to two years.
• Zema told reporters he was not informed of the ban, denied photographing his vote and said he would have handed over the phone if he had been warned at the polling station.
• The inquiry will assess both the candidate's conduct and the poll workers' failure to stop the device from entering the cabin, and any formal criminal action will depend on a complaint filed by the Ministério Público which could affect public trust and polling procedures going forward.