Brazil: Bingo and slot legalization suffers a strong opposition in the new Chamber of Representatives

To the question “Are you in favor of the liberalization of the bingo halls and slots in the country? 255 said “No”, 119 answered “Yes” and 40 said they did not know, totalizing 414 of the 513 representatives that will be part of the new legislative body, which started last February 1st.

The total of the 255 answers against bingo legalization represents the 49.7% of the 513 representatives that comprise the Chamber and 61.5% of the 414 politicians that answered the questionnaire.

Bingos are banned in the country since 2004. The bingo legalization was at a standstill in votation in the Chamber of Representatives at the end of 2010, for 212 votes against 144 and five abstentions. For some representatives of the Legislative body that was closed last January 31st, against liberalization, bingos were sources of money laundering.

Despite having been ovethrown in the Chamber, the proposal, from representative João Dado (PDT-SP), who was reelected, may still be revived due to the return of the original text to the plenary or replacement to the project approved in commissions of the House. For that reason, the possibility was considered remote when the project was overthrown in December.

The poll started November 29th and concluded January 27th. It involved a team of 27 journalists from Brazilia, San Pablo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais.

The questionnaire involved all of the 513 representatives that assumed their positions in the Chamber. In the case of deputies that assumed their positions in the federal, regional or local government, G1 searched the first substitute of the list to answer the questionnaire.

Most representatives anwered the questions by phone, but some of them preferred to receive the questionnaire by e-mail to bring it printed. In all cases, the representatives were informed that representatives were informed that they would not have their answers individualized.