There was rampant fraud and miscounting during the counting of votes prior to the electronic machines in Brazil.

The people might have understood how their vote worked (they put a cross next to an executive candidate, and write the number or name of the candidates for the legislative) but that's nowhere near understanding how the whole system works.

The people who used to benefit from the paper ballots (the fraudsters) are the ones claiming for its return.

I suspect that's what that statement was about, given that this HN article is about the Brazilian elections.