Brazil's top electoral court, the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), has secured a majority to approve the presidential candidacy registrations of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party (PT), Flávio Bolsonaro of the PL and Romeu Zema of the Novo party. The votes were cast in the court's virtual session, which opened on Monday (Aug. 31) and closes on Wednesday night (Sept. 2), according to the news site G1.
Lula's ticket, with vice presidential candidate Geraldo Alckmin of the PSB, already has five of the court's seven votes in favor. The same count applies to the tickets of Samara Martins (UP) and Raquel Brício, of Zema and Eduardo Girão (Novo), and of Hertz Dias (PSTU) and Vanessa Portugal. Reporting Justice André Mendonça voted to approve, along with ministers Floriano de Azevedo Marques, Dias Toffoli, Nunes Marques and Antonio Carlos Ferreira. The votes of Estela Aranha and Ricardo Villas Bôas Cueva are still pending.
Flávio Bolsonaro and his running mate Alfredo Gaspar of the PL have six votes in favor, with only Villas Bôas Cueva left to vote. Edmilson Costa of the PCB and his running mate Cleusa Santos are in the same position. The ministers also approved the parties' Demonstrativo de Regularidade dos Atos Partidários (Drap), the filing that certifies party conventions, the selection of candidates and the legal requirements for launching a ticket.
Prosecutors found no impediments
Before the court ruled, the electoral prosecutors of the Ministério Público Eleitoral issued favorable opinions on the registrations and asked for no candidate to be barred, according to radio station Itatiaia. On Lula, the prosecutors said the president filed all required documents and has no criminal or administrative misconduct conviction that could make him ineligible. Cases against him were archived without conviction or ended in acquittal.
The opinions on Flávio Bolsonaro and Zema followed the same line. Prosecutors found the required paperwork, including government proposals and asset declarations, and saw nothing in the criminal and civil records that could block the candidacies. The court's decision is required to formally confirm each presidential ticket before the campaign.
What remains pending
Justice Dias Toffoli pulled the registration of Renan Santos of the Missão party from the docket over "indications of illegality". In the filing submitted on Aug. 7, the candidate declared one account on X and one website; on Aug. 19, he disclosed 18 social media accounts. Still awaiting judgment are the registrations of Augusto Cury (Avante), Clariana Barão (DC), Pablo Marçal (PRTB) and Ronaldo Caiado (PSD). The virtual session closes on Wednesday night, and the outcomes will formalize the approved candidacies ahead of the October election.