STF forms majority to change rule on number of deputies per state

federal deputies

National Congress has until June 30, 2025 to determine the number of federal deputies for each state and the Federal District

Brasilia DF) – The Federal Supreme Court (STF) formed a majority, this Friday (25), to determine that the National Congress presents a new calculation on the number of federal deputies that may be elected by each unit of the Federation.

Parliamentarians will have until June 30, 2025 to indicate the number of deputies per state, based on the proportion of the current population of each of them, including the Federal District.

If Congress does not present the new distribution within the stipulated period, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) will have until October 1, 2025 to point out the new arrangement of deputies for the legislature that begins in 2027.

The trial takes place in the virtual plenary, and ministers must submit their vote by the end of this Friday. The rapporteur, Minister Luiz Fux, was in favor of the text. The magistrate’s understanding was followed by Alexandre de Moraes, Cármen Lúcia, Cristiano Zanin, Edson Fachin, Gilmar Mendes and Rosa Weber.

Ministers Kassio Nunes Marques, Luís Roberto Barroso, André Mendonça and Dias Toffoli have not yet cast their votes.

The new distribution of federal deputies by state must take into account the 2022 census of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and observe the constitutional floor and ceiling, in addition to the total number of parliamentarians provided for in the legislation.

Distribution in the Chamber

The Chamber of Deputies is composed of representatives elected proportionally by each state and by the Federal District. Each Federation unit has a minimum of eight and a maximum of 70 seats in the lower house, depending on the population.

Despite the proportional distribution, some states complain that the number of deputies is not updated according to the population variation of each federative unit.

The STF judgment takes place around a lawsuit filed by the government of Pará in 2017. The State claims that it has not been proportionally represented in the Chamber since 2010.

The number of federal deputies who can be elected by Pará was defined in 1993, and came into effect in the following election. Minister Fux stated, in his vote, that the delay in establishing a new distribution “offends the fundamental political right to suffrage of the populations of underrepresented States and, consequently, the democratic principle”.

“The existence of proportionality between the number of federal deputies and the population of each state is a necessary result of the fact that, in the bicameralism adopted by the Constitution, it is up to the Chamber of Deputies to represent the people”,

highlighted Fox.

*With information from Alean

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