WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump again questioned the US electoral system by comparing the speed with which Brazil released the results of the first round of its presidential election to the counting times in various US cities and states.
In a message posted on Truth Social, Trump highlighted that
approximately 125 million Brazilians participated in the first round of the
presidential election on October 4 and that the results began to be released
just hours after the polls closed.
Trump contrasted this process with US cities and states such
as Detroit, Philadelphia, and California, where the counting and official
certification of results can take days or weeks, as has happened repeatedly.
The president used the expression "take weeks to manipulate, I mean,
calculate" and concluded by calling the US electoral system
"corrupt."
Trump's comparison sparked renewed discussions about the
differences between the two systems. Brazil uses a standardized national
electronic voting system, with the same machines and counting procedures
throughout the country. The results can be known just a few hours after the
polls close.
In the United States, however, each state establishes its
own election rules, and the results are administered by state and local
authorities. Furthermore, states like California make extensive use of mail-in
voting, which requires additional processes for receiving, verifying, and
counting ballots, always leaving some doubt about the final results.