Brazil’s Ficha Limpa Law Awaits Supreme Court Ruling Weeks Before Vote
BRAZIL · JUSTICE
Key Facts
- —What happened: Brazil’s Supreme Court will resume judging changes to the Ficha Limpa clean-record law between 11 and 18 September.
- —What is at stake: A 2025 reform softened how Brazil counts the eight-year ban on candidates with convictions.
- —The score so far: Two justices have voted to strike parts of the reform, and nine more are still to vote.
- —The catch: The ruling lands less than a month before the election, with candidacy registrations already filed.
- —The record: Brazil has blocked roughly 6,800 candidacies under the law since 2014, mostly in municipal races.
- —What comes next: If the court voids the softer rules, some registered 2026 candidates could still be barred.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court resumes, between 11 and 18 September, a case that will decide who gets to stay on the October ballot. At stake is the country’s clean-record law and a 2025 reform that quietly softened it.
What the court is deciding
Ficha Limpa, Portuguese for clean record, is a 2010 law born from a petition signed by 1.6 million Brazilians. It bars candidates for eight years after a panel conviction, a mandate removal or a resignation to escape impeachment.
In 2025 Congress changed how that eight-year clock runs. The new rule can start the count at the conviction or removal itself, not after the sentence is fully served.
The reform also capped stacked bans at twelve years. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed the law in September 2025 but vetoed clauses that would have applied it retroactively.
The Rede Sustentabilidade party challenged the changes at the Supreme Federal Court, known as the STF. It argues the softer counting lets politicians return to the ballot before paying the legal consequences of their offences.
Where the case stands
The rapporteur, Justice Cármen Lúcia, voted to strike down the early-counting rules. Justice Luiz Fux followed her, leaving the score at two to zero against the reform.
Justice Gilmar Mendes then asked for more time to study the case, which suspended the trial. According to O Globo columnist Lauro Jardim, the virtual plenary resumes between 11 and 18 September.
The federal prosecutor-general’s office has taken a middle position. It asked the court to suspend parts of the new law rather than void it entirely.
Why the timing is explosive
Candidacy registrations for the October vote closed on 15 August. A ruling against the reform in mid-September would land after the ballot is set.
Candidates who registered counting on the softer rules could see their registrations revoked weeks before voting. In races for president, governor or senator, a candidate barred after election day can even force a fresh vote.
Names already circled include Deltan Dallagnol, the former Car Wash prosecutor running for the Senate in Paraná. The electoral court annulled his 2022 registration, and his 2026 eligibility depends on how the clock is read.
What the law has done so far
Electoral court data cited by O Globo count 6,853 candidacies rejected or annulled under clean-record categories between 2014 and 2024. Nearly 95% of them were in municipal elections, where candidate numbers are largest.
The peak year was 2020, with 2,390 blocks. The law’s most famous target was Lula himself, barred from the 2018 race while jailed on a conviction later annulled.
Former president Jair Bolsonaro, himself ineligible until 2030 under a separate ruling, now campaigns against the law. He calls it a tool that persecutes right-wing politicians.
What happens after the ruling
If the court strikes the reform, the stricter counting returns and regional electoral courts must re-examine contested registrations. If it upholds the law, the softer rules govern this cycle and the next.
Either way, the decision arrives with the campaign already on television. Brazil votes on 4 October, and any runoff follows on 25 October.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Brazil’s Ficha Limpa law?
It is a 2010 clean-record law that bars candidates for eight years after a conviction by a panel of judges, a mandate removal or a resignation to escape impeachment. It began as a popular petition signed by 1.6 million Brazilians.
What is the Supreme Court deciding about it?
The court is judging whether 2025 changes that start the ineligibility clock earlier are constitutional. Two justices have voted to strike them, and the case resumes between 11 and 18 September 2026.
Can a registered candidate still be barred in Brazil?
Yes. Electoral courts can revoke a registration, and if an elected candidate in a majoritarian race is later barred, a new election can be called.
Connected Coverage
The court already applied ineligibility rules in the case keeping Pablo Marçal barred until 2032. The same rules shape Jair Bolsonaro’s exclusion from the October vote.
Sources: O Globo (Lauro Jardim column); Migalhas; Congresso em Foco; Superior Electoral Court (TSE) data.
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