Halter's vote

The halt vote represented an imposing and arbitrary electoral form imposed by the colonels.

Definition

Halter vow is an expression given by the superposition of two words. Thus, we have Vote , which is the full exercise of democracy; and the word Halt , from Latin capistrum , which means "gag or brake".

In this way, we have an almost paradoxical concept, insofar as it represents democracy muzzled and guided as a beast of burden.

Halder's vote in the Old Republic

In the poorest regions of Brazil, especially in the northeast, this clientelism has been a recurring practice since the times of the Empire.

It was a commonplace during the Old Republic and perhaps continues to this day.

This happened because our electoral system was fragile and easy to be tampered with and manipulated according to the hidden interests of the agrarian elites.

In this case, the voter only needed to personally hand over a piece of paper with the name of their candidate.

Note that it could be written by the colonel himself, since most of these voters could not even read, and deposit it in an urn, in a cloth bag.

It is notable, in this context, the exchange of favors that constituted the "open vote" system, which was then known as "halter vote",

To learn more:

Old Republic
First Republic

Vote of Halter and Coronelismo

It is not possible to think of a halter vote without considering Coronelismo or the violence of this regime.

It is known that the colonel was a very rich farmer. He used his economic and military power to guarantee the election of his political patrons.

Not infrequently, these colonels forced their clientele, even with physical violence, in extreme cases, they could lead to death.

This political domination over a region is called "electoral corral " which elect candidates supported by the local leader.

Since voting was open, that is, it was possible to identify each voter, voters were pressured and supervised by the colonel's gunmen.

This situation only ended (or was reduced) after the 1930 Revolution, when Getúlio Vargas ascended to power, fighting coronelismo.

Later, in 1932, Brazil's first Electoral Code came into force, guaranteeing the secret ballot and, with it, hard hitting the power of rural elites.

Types of Halter Vow

To ensure political control of their “electoral corral”, the colonels manipulated political power. The abuse of authority, the purchase of votes or the use of the public machine stand out.

It was not uncommon either, the creation of "ghost votes", exchange of favors and electoral fraud. These were forged from forged documents so that minors and illiterate people could vote.

Another recurring way was the fraud of the vote count, when the colonels disappeared with ballot boxes to falsify their results. However, the most effective form was coercion by physical and psychological violence.

Today, “halter-voting” practices have become more sophisticated. They continue to be in force, including in urban centers, where the paramilitary figure exercising violence is the militias.

Therefore, the voter's will is violated by drug traffickers, militias, religious leaders and the manipulation of the masses. And, their imaginations are taken through the clientelism generated by assistance programs.

Today, the so-called "staff vote" deserves to be highlighted, in which pastors and spiritual leaders "impose" on the faithful a certain candidate of the church.

The reflection of this is the strengthening of the religious bench in Congress and other Brazilian representative bodies.