In October this year, Brazil will hold elections for the President of the Republic, governors, senators, as well as for federal and state parliamentarians. Since 1996, the electoral process has been computerized in Brazil, using electronic voting booths and satellites, among other equipment, for guaranteeing greater agility and transparency in the process, in addition, the result is disclosed in a few hours later.

In the Amazon region, despite the automation and technological advancement of the electoral process, there are still many communities with little or nonexistent internet access. Therefore, residents in large urban centers more easily gather information, consequently, they have more possibilities when they choose their candidates. In this scenario, what are the strategies adopted by the population of remote areas from the capitals, in order to obtain information about the electoral process?

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In Maranhão, one of the nine states in the Legal Amazon, geographic isolation contributes to communication barriers, according to Reinaldo Avelar, general secretary of the Association of Rural Black Quilombola Communities of Maranhão (Aconeruq). Some of the remote communities, including quilombos, are located throughout 11 islands along the 640 kilometers of coast, according to Superior Electoral Court (TSE), such as the quilombola communities of Cantinho and Santo Antônio, in the municipality of Barreirinhas. Other regions, outside the islands, are also difficult to reach due to the precarious conditions of the roads along the route.

The community collects information about the elections listening to the radio and talking to people they know, because internet access is scarce, and many people use satellite television, which only broadcasts national programs. So, many voters do not know who the local candidates are”, says Avelar, the Aconeruq Secretary.

Furthermore, according to the community leader, due to the difficulties of reaching the communities, few candidates are able to go in person to present themselves to the voters in the quilombos. “Frequently, the only candidates who go there are those who own a good speedboat, a 4x4 car, so the community has a limited perspective of the candidate options they can choose,” he explains.

In the Wai-Wai indigenous village, West of Pará, although there is internet connection, the community meetings still play a fundamental role in the information exchange during the electoral period, according to Rodrigo Nascimento, 43 years old, an indigenous resident in the village, which is located more than 24 hours far by the rivers from the closest municipality, Oriximiná. “The younger people, mainly, gather information about the candidates on the internet. Many ones have already moved outside the village to study, for example, and they have easier contact with the city. But some people, like the elderly ones, still depend on the information brought by community leaders. It is common to promote large meetings to discuss about these subjects”, he says, referring to the indigenous people who are more often in contact with the city, acting as articulators within the village.

Commuting to the polling stations is done by the rivers

On Marajó Island, an archipelago in the state of Pará, geographical distances also impact participation in electoral routine. A large part of the population is composed by riverine people, as such they need to travel by boat to the nearest polling stations. The boat trip takes around 12 hours from Belém, the state capital, to Breves. From Breves to Melgaço, it takes an hour by voadeira (a kind of small boat, powered by an engine); and from Melgaço to Portel, the trip takes around 30 minutes more by speedboat. This distance is increased depending on where the riverine communities of Melgaço are located.

In Vila Jerusalem, on the coast of Tajapuruzinho River, in a riverine community in Melgaço, the reporters met Francisco Queiroz de Lima, 66 years old, at the top of a wooden house. Reaching this one and other houses in the community is via stilts, which are wooden walk paths. The stilts are like sidewalks. Francisco was making, in an artisanal way, a malhadeira [gillnet], which is a type of net used for fishing. He has lived in the community for almost 10 years, so he told how he gets informed about the candidates: “It's by television, by the newspaper”, detailing he usually analyzes “who is a good candidate, who is hard-working, who has stolen, who hasn’t stolen”.

Concerning the voting choice for city mayor and state governor, he said he usually talks to other people in order to research about them. “The most popular candidate, the one people are talking about, “that one” is going to be elected”, he said.

Francisco votes in Melgaço. He travels by “rabeta”, a kind of “engine powered canoe”. “I haven’t checked it out yet, but I guess it takes half an hour. It is a short time”. He said referring to the distance between the community where he lives and the main municipality. Near there, the reporters also met Serliane da Silva Pereira, 26 years old, washing clothes by the river. When she was asked about her profession, she replied: “You know… my profession is just doing the chores at home. There is no work place opportunity for us here. It is only the domestic work”, she said.  Regarding how she chooses her candidates, she said she watches the “TV news”. “Things are more difficult here in the community. A politician rarely comes here to talk to us, to visit our houses, we rarely listen to their proposals”, she declared.

Serliane’s voting station is in Melgaço, she travels by the most common kind of boat in the region. “When the rabeta moves smoothly, it takes less than an hour. But, when the trip is by boat, it takes an hour and a half. It’s more difficult”, she said.

Henrique Gonçalves da Cunha, 67 years old, is retired, but in addition to his domestic budget, he sells popsicles at Portel coast. It is possible to contemplate the beauty of the river there, highlighted by an intense sun morning and the frenetic flow of vessels.

He also told how he chooses his candidates. “Observing things that are good for the population, for us, concerning health and security issues. And many other aspects that we notice here in this region”, he says.  He has lived in the city for 10 years. Previously, he lived in the interior of Portel, in the rural area.

Aircrafts, boats and even animal traction vehicles are used to reach remote areas

Pará state is the second largest in the Brazilian Amazon and in the country as a whole. Of the 6 million voters residing there, more than 1.3 million are in communities that depend on special trips of electoral logistics in Pará. There are 938 thousand voters living in rural areas, 370 thousand voters living in riverine regions, 10 thousand voters in indigenous territories and over 23 thousand voters in quilombola communities, according to the general director of the Regional Electoral Court of Pará (TRE-PA), Felipe Brito.

Thus, TRE-PA has hired, for this year, 6 aircrafts, 4 helicopters, 616 boats and almost 3 thousand land vehicles of various kinds for reaching those people. “We use a variety of vehicles, from large trucks and buses to small motorcycles, rabetas and wheelbarrows. Sometimes, even animal traction vehicles are used, in the most remote regions, during the drought season, a common natural phenomenon in the western region of the state in this period”, he describes.

According to the general director, the Regional Electoral Court's operations for guaranteeing these remote communities can vote started in January, when teams went to those localities to promote the issuing of electoral registrations and regularizing documents. Even before taking the booths to the voting locations, other preparations are necessary: “As many locations do not have electricity, the electronic voting machines have a battery autonomy that is enough to charge them during the entire voting period, nevertheless, TRE distributes additional batteries to guarantee there is no interruption in the voting process”, adds Felipe Brito.

The computerized procedure guarantees security and transparency to the electoral process, eliminating human intervention in the calculation and totalization of results. Despite the lack of internet and electricity in some communities, the election process using electronic booths works well and it has integrated and protected data all around the country, as well as guaranteeing celerity in the counting of votes.

Due to the use of satellites, the transmission of results is practically simultaneous to the closing of work in the polling stations. “This procedure is carried out in any location, regardless it has electricity or not”, highlights the general director. Information provided by the TSE points out that “before using this kind of system, the Electoral Court used to take more than 48 hours to complete the elections. After the satellite system was adopted, the result is announced on the same day of the election. Currently, the transmission of votes at these locations lasts approximately only three minutes.”

Indigenous people help in the installation and operation of polling stations

Rodrigo Nascimento, Wai-Wai ethnicity indigenous, says it takes a long journey to reach his village. Starting from the nearest municipality, Oriximiná (State of Pará), it takes 16 hours by boat, facing strong currents, followed by another trip of 14 hours by voadeira, a kind of speed boat commonly used in the region. “Only people who are familiar to the route of the river can get there, that is, only the community residents in that region, he says. “Before these faster boats were available, the trip used to take much longer, I remember many times I traveled by canoe, rowing with my father for a week, we would stop a little whenever possible, until we reach Oriximiná”, he tells.

This is the route that needs to be crossed in order to install a polling place there, as it will be done this year, during to the elections. The support from the community leaders at this moment is fundamental. For Rodrigo, it is a manner for practicing citizenship. “We fight for our rights every day and guaranteeing access to voting is one of them. So, it is very important that we are involved in the entire electoral process,” he states. According to him, many indigenous people work as poll workers and electoral inspectors on election day, as well as translating the Wai-Wai language to Portuguese, and vice versa.

On voting day, according to Rodrigo, the Regional Electoral Court staff arrives by the rivers, guided by an indigenous person, and usually accompanied by an Army crew, traveling by helicopter or airplane. “Sometimes, representatives of Funai (National Indian Foundation) also come. They arrive here and set up a polling station in the largest village nearby, Mapuera, and we, Wai-Wai people, go there to vote, along with people from other villages and also from the quilombola community, Cachoeira Porteira”, he describes.

Quilombola people are also fundamental to guide crews

In the quilombo communities in Maranhão state, guaranteeing everyone the right to vote is challenging. “In communities that are located on islands, we need to make a great mobilization to move people and equipment for the elections, using canoes, for example”, explains Reinaldo Avelar, General Secretary of the Association of Rural Black Communities Quilombola do Maranhão (Aconeruq).

At the age of 58, Reinaldo lives in the Damásio community, in the municipality of Guimarães (MA). He remembers the difficulties were even worse in the past. “Even facing all these challenges now, having voting places within our quilombola territories can be considered a great achievement. Before that, there were people who didn’t vote. Many people were only able to go to the nearest city to vote if they “took a ride” with a politician. This situation totally influenced the autonomy of voting choice”, he explains.

According to him, that is why the community leaders insist on being together with the Regional Electoral Court professionals, involved in the electoral process. “We don't want to be left apart from decision-making. Besides, quilombola people serve as guides to take the Tribunal's teams to the communities and many of us act as poll workers. Our participation makes a big difference, because it provides more representation and encourages communities to engage, to be more informed about how the electoral process works and to vote consciously”, he states.

The Liberal Amazon reporters contacted the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) to schedule an interview or collect current data about the difficulties to reach remote communities in the Amazon. However, until the closing of this edition, no response was received.