Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies passes new electoral code

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The bill was approved by 378 votes in favor and 80 against. The document has almost 900 articles and reforms the political party and electoral
legislation. Legislators will continue analyzing proposed amendments next week.

To come into force in time for the 2022 elections, the bill must be passed by both the Chamber and Senate by the end of September. According to rapporteur Deputy Margarete Menezes, the proposal’s goal is to limit the judicialization of elections in Brazil.

“It is necessary to rescue the popular role in the choice of their representatives. Excessive judicialization often implies the replacement of citizens’ political preferences by choices made by people who are not responsive to society,” the deputy said.

CHANGES

The bill foresees authorization for coalition candidacies for deputy and councilor positions. An innovation in political activity, this type of candidacy is marked by collective decision making as to the position of the elected representative in votes and legislative procedures.

The bill bans the publication of electoral polls on the eve and the day of the election. In addition, it requires polling institutes to report the success rate of polls conducted in the past 5 elections.

The matter reduces the term for the Electoral courts to judge the rendering of accounts from 5 to 3 years, thus becoming administrative procedures. The fine for irregularities in the rendering of accounts will now be 5% of the irregular amount, and no longer 20%, as it is now.

The new Electoral Code also establishes a limit of 8 years for loss of political rights based on the Clean Record Act. Today, the period may be longer due to judicial proceedings.

The bill also establishes that votes for women, indigenous and black count for two for the purposes of distributing Electoral Fund resources. The measure is designed to increase the share of these populations in politics.

The bill also changes the rules for party fidelity, by extending the obligation to remain in the same party after the election to governors, mayors and the president. Currently, only legislators must comply with party fidelity.

One of the highlights already passed by the deputies limited the change of party affiliation only to the end of the mandate, before the next election. According to the rapporteur’s text, the change could occur every two years.

Moreover, the new code increases the minimum number of a party’s members in the Chamber from 5 to 10, in order for the party to guarantee its candidates participate in electoral debates on radio and television.

Another provision establishes measures against the spread of fake news in elections by authorizing the Electoral Court to suspend profiles identified as robots on social networks during the election.

Another article mandates a quarantine for police officers who are going to run for elective office – they will be required to leave their posts 5 years before the election. The new rule will be in force as of 2026. Initially, the proposal included military, police, judges and members of the Prosecutor’s Office, but deputies removed most of these categories.

AGAINST

The only parties that spoke out against the bill were Novo, Rede and PSOL. According to deputy Marcel van Hattem (Novo-RS), the bill was analyzed without a thorough discussion.

“We do not want this bill to be put on the agenda in time for the changes to be effective for the next elections. There are many controversial issues that need to be clarified,” van Hattem said.

Commentators have noted that the Senate has been lukewarm to this proposal, and may well delay debate on the question until after the September 30 deadline has passed, thus preventing the Code from entering into effect for the October 2022 elections.