Brazil Election Has Record Female Candidates, More Blacks Than Whites for First Time

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The 523,000 applications submitted to register for the November municipal elections have set a record number of female candidates and, for the first time in history, a self-declared ‘negro’ (including both black ‘preto’ or mixed-race ‘pardo’) majority over those who identify themselves as white.

The increase in the number of blacks and females in the municipal mayoralty and city council disputes has been based on the establishment of gender quotas in the 1990s and the most recent quotas for the distribution of campaign funds and electoral propaganda, decisions taken by higher courts in 2018 in the case of women and in 2020 in the case of blacks.

Regarding the greater presence of blacks, experts also mention the impact of the growth of people who recognize themselves as black and mixed-race following anti-racism initiatives.

The racial electoral quota still requires confirmation by the STF (Federal Supreme Court), which should occur this week.

Although the deadline for registering candidates ended on Saturday, September 26th, the Superior Electoral Court TSE reported that a number of in-person registrations will still require a few days to be processed by the system.

In addition, candidates who have not had their names registered by parties have until Thursday, October 1st to do so, but this typically concerns a negligible percentage of candidates.

The 523,000 applications confirmed so far represent 45,000 more than the 2016 total and about 80 percent of what the court expects to receive this year, based on party conventions – about 645,000 candidates.

By late Sunday morning, September 27th, the proportion of female candidates stood at 34 percent – 176,000 candidates. This rate has not exceeded 32 percent in the past three elections. Under current rules, parties must reserve at least 30 percent of candidate seats and public campaign funds for women.

In 2018, Folha newspaper disclosed in several reports that some parties, including the PSL, had launched fake female candidates in order to demonstrate compliance, but ultimately diverted funds to male candidates.

In the case of blacks, the TSE decided to introduce an equitable distribution of campaign funds and electoral propaganda between black and white candidates from 2022.

However, STF Justice Justice Ricardo Lewandowski ordered the measure to be immediately enforced. His decision, a preliminary injunction, is being analyzed by the full court, and is expected to be upheld.

By Sunday morning, the self-declared blacks and mixed-race totaled 51 percent of candidates (263,000) against 48 percent of whites (248,000). Among non-whites (negros), 208,000 declared themselves mixed-race (pardos) and 55,000 declared themselves black (pretos).

The TSE began to ask the candidates’ color in 2014. In the three elections held to date, whites have always been more numerous than blacks, accounting for over 50 percent of candidate seats, despite the fact that blacks and mixed-race individuals constitute a majority of the Brazilian population (56 percent).

Although the TSE has not registered candidates’ color or race in previous elections, it is highly unlikely that there has been a past election with a majority of black candidates.

As in the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) population census, candidates must declare color or race based on five identifiers: black (‘preto’) and mixed-race (‘pardo’) who jointly are classified as ‘negro’), white, asian, or indigenous.

Folha reported on Friday, September 24th, that at least 21,000 candidates from across the country who will run in this year’s elections changed their color and race declarations from those made in 2016, according to records provided by the Electoral courts by Thursday.

The majority of changes -36 percent of the total – were from white to mixed-race. The opposite trend occurs in the sequence, with 30 percent changing from mixed-race to white.

Despite the possibility of fraud, experts mention the impact of the growth of people who recognize themselves as black and mixed-race following anti-racism initiatives.

The decision to immediately enforce racial quotas has placed in opposite positions the afro groups in political parties, in favor of the decision, and party leaders, mostly white, who in a meeting this week with the TSE Chief Judge Barroso, even said it was impossible to comply with the measure this year.

There is also concern of fraud in relation to black candidacies. It should be stressed that, just as the female quota has not yet resulted in the presence in Executive and Legislative leadership positions of women in the proportion of the population they represent, the racial quota is likewise no guarantee in itself that there will be a significant increase in the participation of non-whites in politics, today consigned to minor positions of power, particularly in the most important offices.

Source: Folha de S.Paulo