Brazil’s Federal Police to Deploy Drones to Fight Election Fraud

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Federal Police (PF) will deploy drones in all states to assist the work of police in preventing and suppressing electoral crimes. The goal is to increase security in this year’s elections.

Over 100 Remotely-Piloted Aircraft will be used, which will be allocated to municipalities, classified by the body as strategic throughout the national territory. According to the PF, the drones will overfly the main electoral zones in Brazil, assisting in the inspection and the fight against crimes such as exit polls and illegal transport of voters, for instance.

According to the PF, the drones feature cutting-edge technology and may become imperceptible when flying at high altitude. They feature cameras capable of zooming in to identify suspects, vehicle license plates, delivery of campaign propaganda and vote buying situations, with high definition images.

The captured images will be broadcast to a Federal Police team, which will be prepared to monitor all elections and take appropriate measures in case of suspicious activities.

“Faced with any electoral crime, police officers will be immediately deployed to the designated location to arrest the suspects, who will be taken to a police station, where the appropriate measures will be taken,” the Federal Police said.

New technologies

It added that the use of drones complies with the PF’s general direction guidelines aimed at preventing and repressing criminal actions through the employment of new technologies.

Moreover, the use of drones reduces the physical presence of police officers and social contact with those not involved in criminal situations, which, for the PF, becomes extremely relevant in the scenario of social distancing measures to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“By doing so, the institution [Federal Police] aims at fulfilling its constitutional role of electoral judicial police and demonstrating that it is prepared to fight electoral crimes, ensuring a safe election so that citizens may exercise their right to vote within the law,” it said.

The first round of municipal elections is scheduled for November 15th. The second round, where applicable, will be held on November 29th. Voting will always be in-person, from 7 AM to 5 PM local time.

Source: Agência Brasil

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