Zélia Maria Franco Rodrigues, 76, fell ill at a polling station in Pará. Voting was moved to a nearby section after resuscitation efforts failed. The cause of death has not been confirmed.
Zélia Maria Franco Rodrigues, 76, died on Sunday, October 4, after falling ill while voting at Presidente Costa e Silva School in Belém, Pará state. The regional electoral court, TRE-PA, said she was in the booth at section 389 of the 98th Electoral Zone when she began to show signs of distress. Her cause of death has not been confirmed.
Rodrigues’s son asked permission to enter the booth and help her. Polling-station secretary Cássia Lobo Lima, a nurse, began first aid and resuscitation. The mobile emergency service, Samu, arrived 10 to 15 minutes later and continued efforts for about 40 to 50 minutes, including using a defibrillator. Rodrigues could not be revived. The Legal Medical Institute was called to handle procedures involving the body.
Voting at section 389 was interrupted during the emergency response. After the procedures ended, Judge Cláudia Regina Moreira Favacho of Belém’s 98th Electoral Zone authorized the electronic ballot box to be switched off. Voters who still needed to cast ballots were sent to neighboring section 157. Rodrigues did not complete her vote.
Voting continued at the new section and ended at 5:40 p.m. TRE-PA deputy president and regional electoral inspector Filomena Buarque visited the site. Rodrigues’s son accompanied the related procedures at the police station. Civil Police said the case was registered as a natural death.