RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Announced by the Alliance for Brazil, the party President Jair Bolsonaro intends to form, the strategy of notarizing supporters’ signatures before sending them to the Electoral Justice is clashing with regulations governing the activities of notaries public and the concern among notaries of becoming associated with a political faction.
The slow pace of signature collection is making leaders concede that the party may not be ready in time to run for the 2020 elections.
In Piauí and Pernambuco, the courts have prohibited notaries from performing authentications outside their premises or office hours. In both states, the judges argued that there was no evidence of the need for the special service.
In the case of Pernambuco, however, the National Council of Justice (CNJ) accepted an appeal from President Bolsonaro’s allies.
Last week, Estado newspaper visited some of São Paulo’s main notary offices and found that there is little adherence to the formation campaign in the capital.
The Alliance party organizers have until the end of March to collect the 491,900 signatures required for the party to be able to take part in this year’s municipal elections. To speed up the process, the party chose to certify the support forms before sending them to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
TSE officials are now free to check the signatures, which is considered to be the longest process in the creation of a party. Furthermore, there is no need to collect additional signatures than is necessary to offset any forms that may be rejected by the TSE.
Karina Kufa, the Alliance’s national treasurer, acknowledges the difficulty in formalizing the formation of the new party. “I’ll be honest: I can’t guarantee it 100 percent,” she said. “If we had the money to invest in the project, it would be fast. But that’s not the reality.” According to Karina, it is impossible to say how many signatures (notarized or not) have been collected so far.
Numbers from the National Association of Notaries (CNB) show that the strategy taken by the Alliance, at least for the time being, has made no difference in the notary public services. In January, the São Paulo notaries authenticated 3.7 million signatures. In the same month of 2018 there were 3.8 million notarizations.
The 24th Notary Public Office, in São Saulo’s central region, has only received 26 forms for authentication since December 20th – an average of less than one per day. The notary’s daily average is more than 400 authentications.
In the 21st Notary Public Office, also in the city center, there have been a little more than 40 support forms since December 20th. On January 17th, the notary office’s officials banned the collection of signatures from Alliance supporters outside the premises. “I politely asked them to leave the notary office’s entrance, and they complied,” said Hilton Barbosa dos Santos, a notary.
Examples
According to Brazilian legislation, it is up to the courts of each State to govern the operation of notaries. Last week, two cases drew attention. The first was in Belém (PA), where supporters of the Alliance dressed in party T-shirts conducted an event inside a notary office. The case is being investigated by the TJ-PA’s inspectorate.
The second instance occurred in Londrina (PR). Last Sunday, Reverend Emerson Patriota of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil used the pulpit to call on the faithful to sign forms of support for the Alliance. There was a notary clerk for authentications, available at the church and outside office hours.
Pernambuco
The CNJ Comptroller, Minister Humberto Martins, on Saturday, February 1st, granted an injunction authorizing the attendance of notaries at the II Meeting of Supporters of the Alliance for Brazil Party of Pernambuco.
The Pernambuco courts had not authorized the operation of notaries of Recife and Olinda at the event, outside working hours and in exceptional circumstances.
Allies of President Bolsonaro appealed, and Comptroller Martins granted the petition. The event took place in Olinda on Saturday, February 2nd. According to the Comptroller, the attendance, limited to the practice of acts specific to notaries, does not have a political nature. “What should be clear is that notaries cannot, in the exercise of their duties, take a position with a party-political connotation,” he said.
Last week, the National Council of Justice (CNJ) had denied a petition from five opposition parties to prevent notaries from authenticating the signatures on Alliance for Brazil’s support petitions. They claimed that the notaries are public officials and, therefore, cannot engage in political party activity.
Concerned with the repercussions the case has caused, leaders of the notary association CNB explain that there was no agreement or partnership between the body – which includes over 9,000 notary offices throughout the country – and the Alliance.
According to the president of the CNB São Paulo section, Andrey Guimarães Duarte, the Association was approached by the party organizers about the strategy’s feasibility. “The Association does not serve the Alliance and has no hierarchy (power) over notaries,” he said.
Since December 20th, the CNB has sent eight letters to notaries advising how to proceed in cases of support petitions for the Alliance. Among the recommendations listed were to avoid the use of political symbols by officials and to ban party banners and posters in notary offices.
The CNB’s initial concern, Duarte said, was to prepare the notaries for the prospect of a large demand for authentications, which has not happened so far. “We were afraid we wouldn’t be able to handle the demand,” he said.
Restrictions
According to the CNB, in 12 states judicial authorization is required for a notary office to provide services outside its premises and working hours, even on an exceptional basis. In three states, the practice is allowed, and in another ten there is no legal provision on the matter. In the Federal District, the notaries serve on call.
Source: Estado de S. Paulo.