MPT registers 2,360 complaints of electoral harassment on the eve of the 2nd round

On the eve of the second round of elections, the number of complaints of electoral harassment reached 2,360, against 1,808 companies and public managers. According to a balance released this Saturday (29) by the MPT (Public Ministry of Labor), there are 934 cases in the Southeast, 690 in the South, 413 in the Northeast, 198 in the Midwest and 125 in the North.

Minas Gerais —a state considered key by the campaign of the two presidential candidates— leads the national ranking with 549 complaints, which is equivalent to 23% of the country’s total. The state is followed by Paraná (258), São Paulo (244), Rio Grande do Sul (218) and Santa Catarina (214).

In Espírito Santo, the Labor Court forced an ice cream factory to publish a retraction note after elected senator Magno Malta (PL-ES) went to the scene and took a poll with employees about their candidate for president. The video was published on a social network of the politician with the title “Closed with Bolsonaro”.

“I just want to know the following. I’m going to count to 3: 1, 2, 3. Who votes for Bolsonaro?”, Malta asks the workers in the recording addressed to President Jair Bolsonaro (PL). The group raises its hand and repeats the representative’s slogan. The report sought the press office of the senator-elect this Saturday, but there was no response until the publication of the text.

According to a Datafolha survey, of every 100 voters who are working, 4 say they have been pressured by their employer to vote for a candidate in the elections. However, less than 1% of respondents who have gone through this said they had reported it.

The survey shows that electoral harassment was more frequent among unregistered employees (7% of them were targeted) and among civil servants (5%). Among registered salaried workers, it was 4%.

In Minas Gerais, as shown by the Sheetmayors who support Bolsonaro have pressured secretaries and civil servants, banned political demonstrations in favor of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), and participated in company events.

The Labor Court will be on duty this Sunday (30) to try to curb episodes of harassment. One of the concerns is with employers preventing employees from leaving work to vote – employers must ensure that their employees are able to participate in the election, without demanding compensation for hours before or after.

“The worst that can happen is to arrive on election day and have a company preventing workers from voting with scales that prevent them from leaving the place. We have to be minimally prepared to receive this information and seek an immediate solution because we only have between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm,” Labor Attorney General José de Lima Ramos Pereira told Sheet on Friday (28).

“That’s why I decided to open all our units across the country. I also talked to the minister president [do TST]Lelio Bentes, who promptly determined the shifts in the Labor Court”, he added.

The reports that surfaced showed employers blackmailing employees into voting for Bolsonaro with promises of ham, time off, R$200 bonuses, 14th and 15th salary or threatening workers to be fired if Lula is elected.

Although no survey has been released on which candidate would benefit most from the illegal practices, most of the reports that have come to the public are from businessmen and mayors who support the reelection of the current president.