BRASILIA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's Ministry of Public Safety on Thursday began security operations with more than 280,000 public safety officers in advance of Sunday's general election.
"A total of 280,000 men and women will be participating in this national operation to guarantee calm, peace and respect for the will of the voters in choosing those who will lead the country for the next four years," Minister of Public Safety Raul Jungmann said.
The Integrated Command and Control Center (CICC) will operate with a focus on general security and surveillance that includes transit, he said. The center opened earlier in the week by the federal police will focus on the investigation of crimes.
When asked about the possibility of confrontations caused by polarization in the election, Jungmann said that up to the moment the ministry's intelligence area has not received any information on that.
"Our intelligence area has not given us any information about any (violence). Apparently the election is a huge democratic party, at times there are problems that arise, that's normal," he said.
Jungmann hopes that voters will respect the democratic spirit of the elections, while also saying security forces will be ready to quell any attempts of fraud at the voting sites.
"All elections are disputed and have their level of trouble, this one won't be any different. The people expect that every person will choose their candidate and respect the right of others to also choose; that is called democracy," Jungmann said.
CICC will operate 24 hours a day until Oct. 8 and again from Oct. 22 to 29.
The operation will also oversee the distribution and custody of all the ballot boxes at the polling sites and transport of the ballot boxes will be done by the military.
