What happens when elections are systematically discredited as vulnerable to manipulation can be seen in the United States.
Even today, millions of Trump voters are convinced that the former president was cheated out of re-election and that Joe Biden is an illegitimate president.
The result: State institutions and procedures lose their binding force and acceptance - democracy is damaged.
Something similar is happening in Brazil right now.
There President Jair Bolsonaro demands a change in the counting procedure because electronic voting, see above, is prone to manipulation.
Bolsonaro has no evidence to back up his claim.
But he is preparing his supporters for the worst case scenario: a defeat in the presidential election next year, which he would then not admit.
He has a heated argument with the Supreme Court because the court is investigating the allegation that Bolsonaro wanted to disrupt, complicate or thwart the electoral process.
Obviously, the right-wing populist President of Brazil is based on his American role model: he sows doubts, mobilizes supporters, discredits institutions.
In the United States, the January 6th storming of the Capitol was the sad, shameful climax of Trump's agitation and denunciation.
It doesn't have to come to that in Brazil.
But preparations are being made.
So much for America as an example!