STF postponed to February 21st the resumption of the trial of the actions that could change part of the Amapá bench in the Chamber – News of Brazil

Paulo Silva
Politics Editor

The Federal Supreme Court (STF) postponed from February 8th to 21st the resumption of the trial of three direct actions of unconstitutionality that could annul the election of seven deputies, six of them from the Northern Region, and among them four from Amapá. The annulment may occur due to a change in the understanding of the calculation of votes in the proportional system, responsible for showing who was elected.
The process was stopped in August last year, after a request for a review from Minister André Mendonça, who returned the action, highlighting that it should be analyzed in the plenary. The request was granted by Minister Roberto Barroso, president of the STF.
So far, only three ministers have voted for the action, all of which are in favor of a review of the ‘electoral leftovers’. However, two differed in parts from the case’s rapporteur, Ricardo Lewandowski, who retired and left the Supreme Court in April 2023.
Lewandowski declared that his vote was for expanding the participation of parties and candidates in the proportional election. According to the former minister, the calculation needs to consider all parties and candidates in the distribution of the remaining vacancies. Furthermore, the judge argued that the change in interpretation must be used in accordance with the Court’s judgment.
The other two votes were from ministers Alexandre de Moraes and Gilmar Mendes. They voted in favor of the application being used in the 2022 elections. If the other magistrates agree with this vote, seven deputies could lose their mandate, according to a survey by Abradep (Brazilian Academy of Electoral and Political Law).
The deputies are:
Dr. Pupio (MDB-AP)
Professor Goreth (PDT-AP);
Silvia Waiãpi (PL-AP).
Sonize Barbosa (PL-AP);
Gilvan Máximo (Republicanos-DF);
Lázaro Botelho (PP-TO);
Lebrão (União Brasil-RO);
Understand the case
The Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) and Podemos are asking the Federal Supreme Court to grant a precautionary measure to allow, in the third phase of distribution of electoral surplus seats, all parties that participated in the elections to be included, regardless of the electoral quotient achieved . This is the second action questioning the criteria for distributing leftovers received by the STF.
Distortions
The object of Direct Unconstitutionality Action (ADI) 7263 is item III of article 109 of the Electoral Code (Law 4,737/1965), amended by Law 14,211/2021, and Resolution 23,677/2021 of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE). According to them, the change requires that the party, in order to be entitled to participate in the distribution of the remaining seats allocated to the position of federal deputy, reach at least 80% of the electoral quotient, with a candidate who has at least 20% of the vote. nominal. If both requirements are not met cumulatively, the remaining seats will be distributed to the parties that present the highest averages, without any restrictions.
The parties allege an error in this form of calculation adopted by the Electoral Court and maintain that this can lead to distortions of the proportional system, such as, for example, a party taking all the seats in the Chamber, if it is the only one to reach the electoral quotient. When presenting total numbers on the vote for federal deputy in this year’s elections, they point out that only 28 of the 513 deputies were elected with their own votes or reached the electoral quotient. The remaining 485 benefited from the votes of their party or federation supporters.
Among other arguments, Podemos and PSB say that the measure violates constitutional principles such as political pluralism, the Democratic Rule of Law, equality of chances, popular sovereignty and the proportional system. In his opinion, the TSE Resolution should not be valid for this year, as it was issued less than a year before the elections.
The action was distributed, as a precaution, to the then minister Ricardo Lewandowski, rapporteur of ADI 7228, filed in August by the Rede Sustentabilidade party against the same rules.

---

Leave your comment

Advertising