Thread by @ggreenwald

Yesterday, Brazil -- the world's sixth most-populous country -- held nationwide municipal elections, with the pandemic raging like in many other countries. But look at how many votes are counted hours after polls closed when you have a functional vote-counting system:🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

It's just astonishing to compare the US -- where only 70% of votes in numerous NY districts are counted more than *two weeks* after the election -- to Brazil, a much poorer country of comparable size, where you wake up the next day and all votes are counted & all races decided.

3 points about the race:

1) Those endorsed by Bolsonaro were complete failures - his support seemed to either have no effect or worse.

2) The socialist candidate, @GuilhermeBoulos, whose story is amazing, is in the run-off to be Mayor of São Paulo, the continent's largest city.

3) Marielle Franco's widow, @monica_benicio, won! She will now occupy the Chamber -- the Rio City Council -- where Marielle was serving when brutally assassinated in 2018. Those who ordered Marielle's murder have not been found; Monica will keep fighting.

noticias.uol.com.br/eleicoes/2020/…

Brazilian journalist pointing out that the Brazilian city of California finished counting all its votes in yesterday's election (as all cities have) before the US state of California has counted all of its votes in the election held more than 2 weeks ago:

https://twitter.com/_danielmariani/status/1328089209945661443?s=20

On the ongoing theme of the amazing efficiency of Brazil's elections v. the utter chaos of the US: today is national run-off day for Mayoral candidates.

A colleague in Rio (pop: 6.5m) timed how long it took to enter the building until he left after voting: less than 4 minutes.

2 weeks ago, Brazil (pop: 220m) held nationwide municipal elections. A glitch that made people angry caused about a 2 hour delay, but *all* votes were fully counted & known that night.

Meanwhile, NY state still has 15% of the vote uncounted for the election 3 1/2 weeks ago!

It remains such a national disgrace, and obviously deliberate, that the US -- the richest and one of the most technologically advanced countries on earth -- can't manage to count votes for weeks or longer in a way that inspires confidence:

greenwald.substack.com/p/the-us-inabi…

On the substance of today's Brazil elections: the left has been a bit lost after Dilma was impeached (2016) & Lula unjustly imprisoned (2018).

But today, with Bolsonaro weakened, the left - the real left - has serious chances to win the mayoralty of several key large cities.

In São Paulo -- the hemisphere's largest city -- a young exciting leftist candidate, @GuilhermeBoulos, has an outside chance to win.

Two others -- @ManuelaDavila (Porto Alegre) & @MariliaArraes (Recife) -- are 50-50, while @EdmilsonPSOL looks almost certain in Belém. 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

Bolsonaro's 2020 failure is not a huge blow to his 2022 re-election because -- like Trump -- he's a charismatic, singular figure and his voters' loyalty is to him, not a party. But major left-wing wins today would be a big deal: for defeating him & for the left globally to study.

Very good start for the Brazilian left in Brazil's Mayoral run-off election today, with the first big win today for @psol50 party: @EdmilsonPSOL defeats a Bolsonaro-supported Federal Police officer to become Mayor of a major capital city:

https://twitter.com/BrasilWire/status/1333150411797237764?s=20

The indescribably corrupt incumbent Rio Mayor - Pentecostal Bishop @MCrivella, who ran the city into the ground & as a last-ditch act of desperation claimed his opponent would appoint socialists to teach school kids pedophilia - is getting demolished. 😄

theguardian.com/world/2020/nov…

And oh, Crivella is also (needless to say) a Bolsonaro-supported candidate. Rare to see an incumbent Mayor get utterly obliterated like this.

Bolsonaro's support has been an absolute curse this year.

Yes another Bolsonaro-supported Mayoral candidate -- this one a Captain in the military police with a long record of popularity in his city whose political "godfather" is President Bolsonaro -- looks also on his way to losing to a center-left candidate.

Hmmm.

By the way, polls around Brazil closed about *90 minutes ago.* Most races already decided with most votes counted: the few outstanding races will be decided shortly, with 100% of the votes counted tonight.

In the US, some Congressional races still undecided 3 1/2 weeks later.

Kind of a mixed night for the Brazilian left in today's elections: some great wins, some disappointing losses, and a painful blowout loss in São Paulo with a great young candidate.

But it was, again, an atrocious night for Bolsonaro & his movement: limping into 2022, at best.