Among the approximately 20 thousand candidates registered in this year's elections, 727 remain without final accountability for the first round identified in the TSE databases updated on November 13, after the deadline on the 3rd. The group includes 222 substitute candidates and does not include elected candidates.
All candidates are required to inform the Electoral Court how much money their campaigns received and how much they spent, in addition to documents proving financial transactions. For those who competed in the second round, the deadline ends this week. The information is public and available for consultation on the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) website.
Anyone who omits information may be prevented from contesting future elections. When there is no accountability, the candidate is left without the electoral discharge certificate, necessary to register another candidacy. The restriction is valid during the term for which he ran and may continue after this period, until the situation is regularized. This consequence depends on the judgment of the Electoral Court and is not automatically applied due to delay.
For those who were elected, if they were in debt to the Electoral Court, the consequence could be not being able to take office. "Anyone who does not present the final report cannot be qualified until they present it", says lawyer Fernando Neisser, professor of Electoral Law at FGV-SP. According to him, the campaign accounts need to be delivered and approved so that the candidate can assume the mandate for which he was elected.
The g1 survey crossed application data with income and expense figures available on the TSE website on November 13, at 4am. The 727 names correspond to 731 candidacies, because four people appear in two different records. Each application has its own identifier in the TSE system and was counted separately.
The check brings together three situations:
410 candidates whose profile consulted stated: “There is no accounting presented to the Electoral Court”;
320 applications with previous deliveries, but without the final performance of the first round in the consulted history;
1 application without registration of accounts in the databases.
The candidates were contacted by g1, but did not respond until the last update of this report.
Among the 320 cases with previous deliveries, the revenue base identifies 205 partial payments and 113 financial reports. In two other cases, classified in the check as historical without final delivery, the type of previous deliveries is not yet detailed in the intersection.
These documents have different functions. The financial reports inform resources received during the campaign, and the partial provision presents an interim balance. None of them replace the final provision, which must bring together the information and documents from the electoral accounts.
According to lawyer Lívia Medeiros, a specialist in Electoral Law and university professor, the absence of the final payment does not mean that there were irregularities in the campaign, but it compromises the complete verification of income and expenses. "Omission makes this conference difficult, but, in isolation, it does not prove slush fund or misappropriation of resources", he states.
After the deadline, the Electoral Court must subpoena or summon those responsible to present the accounts within three days. If the omission persists and the justification is not accepted, there may be a judgment regarding unreported accounts.
According to lawyer Cezar Eduardo Ziliotto, specialist in Constitutional, Electoral and Administrative Law, the obligation to account remains even in cases of renunciation or denial of registration.
“It may be that the candidate, before resigning or rejecting the appeal, has received amounts and made expenditures, including public funds”, he explains. Therefore, accountability is necessary even when there has been no financial movement.
The return of money from the Electoral Fund or Party Fund whose use cannot be proven may also be ordered. The charge depends on the analysis of the appeals and the decision of the Electoral Court.
Turning over documents after trial does not immediately eliminate the restriction during that time.
Among the candidates included in the survey, 222 are substitutes, a situation in which they can assume office if the elected member resigns or takes leave.
The substitutes included in the survey competed for federal and state deputy seats and did not win a seat in the initial distribution. The classification indicates that they may be called upon to fill vacancies according to the rules for replacing parliamentarians. In these cases, this does not concern candidates who are on slates as senator substitutes.
The list includes candidates who withdrew from the race or had problems registering. Of the 731 applications without an identified final performance, 425 are listed as approved. This means that, in these cases, the Electoral Court authorized the candidacy without restrictions.
The situations correspond to the records gathered in the survey and can be changed by subsequent decisions.
According to TSE rules, anyone who renounces their candidacy, gives up, is replaced or has their registration rejected must account for the period in which they participated in the electoral process. The obligation remains even when the person did not campaign or use resources.
"The duty to be accountable arises from participation in the electoral process and is independent of the result at the polls. If the candidacy has not raised or spent, it must declare this absence of movement", explains Lívia Medeiros.
The registration situations are not equivalent. “Rejected” indicates that the request was denied; “order not known” and “cancelled” correspond to different decisions, the reasons for which need to be considered in the analysis of each case. The generic label of unfit candidacy, alone, does not demonstrate a lack of accountability.
