Brazil's top electoral court, the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), admitted on Friday (Sept. 18) a judicial electoral investigation action against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin of the PSB, who are running for reelection, over alleged abuse of political and economic power and misuse of media in a samba school parade last February at Rio's Carnival. The ruling came from the court's electoral inspector general (corregedor), Justice Antonio Carlos Ferreira, and only allows the case to move forward. There is no ruling on the merits and no finding of wrongdoing.
The action was filed by presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro of the right-wing PL, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, and his running mate, Alfredo Gaspar, who face Lula and Alckmin in the 2026 race. Also listed as under investigation are first lady Rosângela da Silva, known as Janja, Workers' Party congressional candidate Marcelo Freixo and Niterói mayor Rodrigo Neves. According to G1, the justice ordered that all of them be formally notified and set a five-day deadline for their defense. If the action ultimately succeeds, it can annul the beneficiary's candidacy or diploma and bar those responsible from running for office for eight years, under Article 22 of Complementary Law 64 of 1990.
How the case reached the TSE
- July 2025: according to the petition, Acadêmicos de Niterói announces a parade theme devoted to Lula's personal and political life.
- Feb. 15, 2026: the school parades at Rio's Carnival with the theme about the president, according to Brasil 247.
- Friday, Sept. 18: the electoral inspector general admits the case, notifies those under investigation and opens a five-day window for defenses.
What the petition claims
Flávio Bolsonaro and Alfredo Gaspar argue that the city governments of Rio de Janeiro and Niterói, the state of Rio de Janeiro and the federal tourism agency Embratur channeled a combined 9.65 million reais to the school after the theme was announced in July 2025. They claim there were also unexplained private revenues, possibly from companies with government contracts and no history of sponsoring samba schools. They further allege misuse of media: the parade was carried on national broadcast television for about 79 minutes, they say, and the recording remained available on digital platforms, exposure that in their reading escaped the legal rules for campaign advertising.
The petition asks for evidence from public and private bodies and for testimony from Janja, Freixo and Rodrigo Neves. If the abuse is proven, the plaintiffs ask that Lula and Alckmin have their candidacies annulled and be declared ineligible for the following eight years.
Reviewing the filing, Antonio Carlos Ferreira concluded that the reported facts could, at least in theory, amount to abuse of political and economic power and misuse of media. According to Brasil 247, the petition came with payment receipts, official publications, audit court documents, the school's "Livro Abre-Alas" disclosure book and a list of witnesses. "In a first analysis, I find that the initial petition meets the admissibility requirements," the justice wrote. For Márcio Nogueira, president of the Rondônia bar association and an electoral law specialist quoted by G1, this type of action is one of the "most severe accountability instruments in electoral justice" and differs from electoral complaints, which target specific infractions such as irregular advertising.
The tool has carried weight before in Brazilian politics. Both TSE convictions of former president Jair Bolsonaro, which made him ineligible until 2030, came in judicial electoral investigation actions, one over his 2022 meeting with foreign ambassadors and one over the Independence bicentennial celebrations of Sept. 7, 2022. On the current case, G1 said it contacted the Workers' Party campaign and received no response. Lula, Alckmin and the others notified are under investigation and enjoy the presumption of innocence. The next step is their defense, due within five days of notification, after which the case moves to evidence gathering. The outlets consulted gave no date for that stage.