Collective applications are at risk of ending in 2024

Manaus (AM) — Collective candidacies returned to the focus of parliamentary discussions with the mini-electoral reform project discussed in the Chamber of Deputies. Last week, the Plenary approved an amendment to PL 4438/23 that prohibits the candidacy model. To Em Tempo, participants in collective candidacies in Amazonas highlight their dissatisfaction with a possible ban – PL will still pass through the Senate.

“Everything evolves and improves over time. Prohibiting collective candidacies is harmful to democracy, as it removes institutional politics from the people. This is not a demand that comes from within politics, but rather a need that arises from society, demonstrating that it is possible to transcend the personification of power and make it more collective and participatory. Furthermore, collective candidacies tend to bring important issues that often do not find space in parliaments to be debated”

declared cultural producer Michelle Andrews.

The president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), forwarded the mini-electoral reform project approved by the Chamber of Deputies last week to the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ). Thus, the expectation is that the text will be processed independently of the project that updates the Electoral Code and has been stuck in the House since 2021. The new rules must become Law by October 6th of this year to be valid in the municipal elections of 2024.

Cultural producer Michelle Andrews is part of Bancada das Manas (PCdoB), a pioneer in collective candidacies in Amazonas. In 2020, she entered the race for a position in the Manaus City Council (CMM), being the fifth most voted, with almost 8 thousand votes. However, the group was not elected because it did not reach the minimum electoral coefficient.

“My motivation for joining this candidacy model was driven by the search for innovation in politics and the belief that more people should get involved in the political arena. Furthermore, I wanted to move away from the traditional mandate format to explore new ways of representing the popular will.
Furthermore, we can observe that collective candidacies are also preferred by segments with less parliamentary representation, such as women, black people, LGBT+ people, and ends up being a strategy for these segments to reach environments as hostile as those of institutional politics.”

he stated.

Members of the bench are lawyer Alessandrine Silva, administrator Val Fontes, social worker Marklize Siqueira, and community leader Patrícia Andrade, but the person who would officially represent at the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) would be Michelle Andrews.

The agendas raised by the Bancada das Manas permeate various groups in Amazonian society, whether in the capital or in the state’s river channels, such as the defense of women, human rights, sustainability, communities of people and rivers, and the promotion of education and culture. They also highlight the fight for gender issues and against racism.

The proposal approved regarding the mini-reform by the Chamber empties the Clean Record Law, opens loopholes to reduce transfers to female candidates and attenuates the rules related to electoral reporting. The project also establishes mandatory free public transport on election day, with special lines for more distant regions; legalizes collective candidacies in elections for deputy and councilor and allows the penalty of impeachment for candidates who use illegal resources to be replaced by payment of a fine of up to R$150,000.

A collective candidacy is when a group of people come together on a ticket to run for election. Due to legislation, a name appears on the ballot, in this case it is Christopher Rocha, legally responsible for the mandate. He is the one who would take office, of the Chapa Coletiva da Juventude (PCdoB) formed by six young people from Amazonas who sought to act politically in Amazonas.

“If we are able to further democratize popular participation in legislative houses, we need to continue with this format of collective candidacies, so that the legislation can provide for and ensure that these co-candidates can be guaranteed on the register, be regulated and not marginalized and criminalized as has been trying this mini electoral reform”,

declared Christopher Rocha.

To Em Tempo, Christopher stated that the idea of ​​putting together a collective candidacy with other young activists came about because he understood that Brazilian politics is conservative and there is difficulty in accessing these spaces.

“What motivated me to enter this candidacy model was precisely to understand that politics, as it is done today, is not made for us to occupy this space, it is a conservative policy, it is a white policy, an elitist policy for the people who hold it. power and economic. There are not many spaces for new subjects to enter the scene and when they do, they are often stigmatized, harassed and stereotyped. I understood that at that moment I could not be alone in politics because it is a hostile space for people like us, young people, LGBTs, black people, peripheral people.”

declared Christopher Rocha.

In a profile drawn up by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) with data from the 2022 election, if the Chamber were a person, he would be a white man, over 50 years old, with completed higher education and assets above R$2 million.

“For women and black people, collective is, most of the time, the only way we know and want to do politics. Having an organization and a support network for formulating, welcoming and sharing my insecurities and even caring for my son was essential for me to have the courage to run for election”,

points out Mônica Seixas. She is part of the Pretas Movement (PSOL), which occupies one of the seats in the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo (ALESP).

The National Front for Mandates and Collective Mandates launched a petition and has been working together to put pressure on Brasília. If it passes through the Senate, the ban on collective candidacies could still be vetoed by President Lula.

Against collective candidacies

Initially, the basic text of the mini-reform sought to regulate collective candidacies. However, an amendment by Gaucho federal deputy Bibo Nunes (PL) against this regulation was approved. Bibo declares that collective applications can lead to fraud. “How does a candidate receive votes from those who voted for another? It’s a deception”said in defense of the amendment.

The rapporteur of the proposal, deputy Rubens Pereira Júnior (PT-MA), recalled that collective candidacies already have the approval of the Superior Electoral Court. “In collective candidacy, there is only one candidate, the others are supporters”he stated.

Deputy Marcel van Hattem (Novo-RS) assessed that the ban on collective candidacies is a message from Parliament against the Judiciary. “It’s saying to the Superior Electoral Court: no more meddling in what is not its duty, the duty to legislate belongs to the Chamber of Deputies”he declared.

Electoral mini-reform

Among the flexibilities proposed by the mini-reform are the exemption from sanctions for parties that do not meet the minimum quota of 30% of female candidates, which can be counted by federation, and the autonomy of parties in distributing the 30% of public resources allocated to the campaign electoral campaign for female candidates. The current rule determines that the percentage must be divided among all the party’s female candidates, but the change will allow the entire amount to be allocated to just one candidate, for example.

Other main points of the mini-reform are the legalization of collective candidacies for deputies and councilors and mandatory free public transport on election day. Among the points that were taken up is the period of ineligibility for politicians who lose their mandate.

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