Good morning! Today: The House voted down the paper ballot proposal, but tensions continue to run high. The ghost of inflation haunting Brazilian families. Tax reform catering to Big Agro. And a new National Security Law for Brazil.
House kills paper ballot bill. What now?
As expected, the House floor did not approve a bill reinstating paper ballots as a supplement to Brazil’s 100-percent electronic system. The proposal did not come close to achieving the 60-percent majority necessary to amend the Constitution, but it is notable that the yeas outnumbered the nays, 229 to 218.
Why it matters. The result of the vote might be yet more evidence of how President Jair Bolsonaro is successfully sowing doubt about Brazil’s voting system — and moving the needle of public opinion.
Tensions. The House’s decision, therefore, will not ease the institutional crisis in Brasília one jot. Just hours before the vote, Mr. Bolsonaro held a military parade outside the presidential palace (which happens to be next to the Congress and Supreme Court buildings).
- Many of the president’s opponents condemned the parade as befitting a Banana Republic, pointing out how old and cheap the tanks on show were (some were used by...