Vera Lúcia is appointed as substitute minister of the TSE

Decision

Electoral Court of Justice now has second black woman

Brasilia DF) – The President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, appointed Bahian lawyer Vera Lúcia Santana Araújo to take up a position as substitute minister of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE). The appointment decree was published in an extra edition of the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU) this Saturday (23).

Vera Lúcia will be the second black woman to make up the Court. In June of this year, President Lula appointed lawyer Edilene Lôbo, who, upon being sworn in at the beginning of August, became the first black woman to join the TSE.

Lula chose Vera Lúcia Araújo from a list sent by the Federal Supreme Court (STF). The triple list was made up of three women. With the appointment of Vera Lúcia, the TSE will now have three women in its composition. In addition to Vera Lúcia and Edilene Lôbo, the court is made up of STF minister Cármen Lúcia, who occupies an effective seat.

Vera Lúcia will take over the position previously held by fellow lawyer Maria Claudia Bucchianeri Pinheiro, whose mandate recently came to an end. Maria Claudia was appointed by then president Jair Bolsonaro, in June 2021.

In a statement, the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) congratulated Vera Lúcia on her nomination.

“The choice of Vera Lúcia to join the TSE is a recognition of her remarkable professional trajectory, standing out for her competence, ethics and dedication to law. We believe that her actions will contribute significantly to the excellence and efficiency of the Brazilian Electoral Justice”,

stated, in the note, the president of the order’s Federal Council, Beto Simonetti.

According to the Constitution, it is up to the President of the Republic to appoint the lawyers who make up the TSE. The Court is made up of seven ministers, three from the STF, two from the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) and two lawyers with renowned legal knowledge, in addition to their respective substitutes.

In 91 years of Electoral Justice, only 11 women have sat on the TSE Plenary as effective or substitute ministers: Ellen Gracie, Eliana Calmon, Nancy Andrighi, Cármen Lúcia, Laurita Vaz, Maria Thereza de Assis Moura, Rosa Weber, Luciana Lóssio, Maria Cláudia Bucchianeri Pinheiro, Maria Isabel Gallotti Rodrigues and Edilene Lôbo.

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