Maré residents mobilize to publicize polling places

Maré residents mobilize to disclose polling locations "I thought about giving up at all times." The statement is by photographer Marlon Soares, a resident of the Maré Complex, a set of 16 communities where about 140 thousand people live, in the northern zone of Rio de Janeiro. He refers to the difficulty in getting to vote on October 4th, the date of the first round of the general elections. Marlon is one of the almost 17 thousand voters in Maré whose polling location was changed this year compared to the 2024 election. "I am very bothered by this decision to change the polling location," he told Agência Brasil. "I always voted there, including, it is the same polling location for my family. It was the best place to vote, because there was no line," he adds, reporting that he found "giant lines" at the new address. "They threw me to another neighborhood. I had to take a ride to get there and waited more than two hours in line to vote," he recounts. Rejane Barcelos is a resident of Vila do João, one of the communities in Maré. She says that she used to vote at a school near her home, but this year, it was directed to a church in another neighborhood. "There are no buses nearby, nothing nearby. It's a good thing I had some money to ask for an Uber." She also says that she had to face an immense line in the hot sun. "There were people coming from mass and others going to vote. A commotion. I had a lot of difficulty getting in and being able to vote," she recalls. Address change in relation to 2024 The change in the place of voting this year for six positions, including the presidency, which will have a second round next Sunday (25th), was a decision of the Regional Electoral Court of Rio de Janeiro (TRE-RJ). The changes were determined with the objective of removing polling sections from areas considered high-risk or dominated by organized crime. According to the TRE, the new polling locations are outside areas controlled by drug trafficking or militias, away from territories dominated by rival factions and as close as possible to each replaced polling location. In the state, 72 polling locations were changed in relation to 2024 due to security issues. The changes happened in 20 cities, including the capital. The measure affects about 202 thousand voters. Specifically in the Maré Complex, there were 16,907 voters, all belonging to 41 sections belonging to the 161st Electoral Zone, according to the TRE-RJ to Agência Brasil. See the changed locations in the region in relation to the 2024 elections: - 7,268 voters who voted at the Josué de Castro Municipal School now vote at the Gama E Souza Educational Center - 4,907 voters who voted at the Teotônio Vilela Municipal School now vote at the Bonsucesso Futebol Clube - 4,732 voters who voted at the Paulo Freire Municipal School now vote at the Nossa Senhora de Bonsucesso Church in Inhaúma Regarding the polling location for this year's first round of elections, Rio de Janeiro will have a change in only one address: in the Brás de Pina neighborhood, in the northern zone of the capital, according to the TRE-RJ (sections 123, 124, 125, 126, and 127 of the 188th Electoral Zone). Abstention According to a survey made by Agência Brasil based on the Ballot Box Reports, which show the total votes of each electronic ballot box, abstention in the 41 electoral sections of Maré that had their addresses transferred in relation to 2024 reached 31.07%, exceeding the national average of 21.08%. According to the study Como vota a Maré, developed by the non-governmental organization Redes da Maré, the data does not allow establishing a direct causal relationship between the change of locations and abstention, especially because there was growth in the electorate, "but they reinforce the concern with the barriers to access produced by displacements outside the territory." On election day, the TRE did not relate the increase in abstention to the change of polling location. Months before the vote, the Electoral Justice guided voters to consult the address of the polling location in advance. To Agência Brasil, the TRE-RJ emphasized that public transport on the day of voting is free in the country, based on Resolution 23.759/2026 of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE). The TRE-RJ informed that it offered, through the Seu Voto Importa project, special transport adapted for voters with reduced mobility in the Maré Complex, "but there was no demand." Mobilization To guide residents and try to reduce abstention in the set of communities, Redes da Maré carries out the Esquinas por Direitos mobilization from Tuesday (20th) to Friday (23rd), talking with residents about the right to vote. The exact action points can be consulted daily on the institution's profile. The NGO also disseminates information about voting on social networks, which includes clarifying that those who did not vote in the first round can vote normally on the 25th. The same applies to those who have not yet registered their biometrics. "Before leaving home, check your polling location and the status of your voter registration," one of the posts emphasizes, adding that the occurrence of lines should be less, as in Rio de Janeiro, there will be no second round for governor. "We will only vote for president," she advises. Furthermore, residents exchange information about democratic rights through messaging applications. >> See here how to check the polling location and electoral section Effect of the changes According to Como Vota a Maré, abstention this year was higher than in 2024 (28%), when the set of communities also had undergone a massive change of polling locations. According to the NGO's accounts, in four years, 50% of voters had new polling locations. For the institution, the impact of these changes involves, mainly, issues of accessibility and urban mobility, as it alters travel routes between residences and electoral sections, especially for voters who used to vote within Maré. "The transfer can mean increased walking time, the need to cross large avenues like Avenida Brasil and Linha Amarela, the absence or inadequacy of public transport, perceived unsafe routes, and the need to leave one's own territory to vote, which disproportionately impacts young people, women heads of household, people with disabilities, and the elderly living in Maré," evaluates the NGO, which estimates 62% of the Black and brown population in the Maré Complex. Redes da Maré adds that "free transport is not enough when transport does not reach the territory." The Political Incidence analyst for Redes da Maré, Lia Manso, highlights that voting and democratic participation are central elements for every person. She recalls that voting "was a right arduously won and reaffirmed in a context of redemocratization." "The fight for it is not over," she says to Agência Brasil. According to her, a large part of the residents of Maré "are people who are, in some way, precarious by the rights" to public security, sanitation, education, culture, and voting. "The work of Redes da Maré at this moment is to be on the streets, bring the dynamic of the debate about voting and the importance of democratic participation, exercising the right to vote, saying that our vote matters, not only because it is an individual right, but because it impacts the territory and the lives of all of us collectively," evaluates the lawyer.