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Article: BRAZIL'S VOTERS GET THE CASH- AND WHATEVER ELSE-UP FRONT.(News)
- Article from:
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- Article date:
- October 3, 1998
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Dialog Corporation by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Luciene Ramos dos Santos knew a year ago who she would vote for in tomorrow's election: whoever would buy her a refrigerator.
Like many voters in Brazil's poor Northeast, dos Santos doesn't expect anything from the politicians who win national elections once they take office. So she makes the most of their need for her now.
``Candidates or their friends pass by and ask if we need anything. They write it down, and then we wait and see who comes through,'' she said, standing outside her clapboard shack plastered with campaign posters.
While Brazil has made strides in curtailing election fraud, vote-buying is a time-hallowed practice in the poor ...