Gilmar Mendes says that the TSE command must act as an 'equidistant referee'

The Electoral Court is chaired by minister Kassio Nunes Marques, also a member of the STF. He took command of the TSE this year to conduct the 2026 elections and will remain president until May 2027.

The declaration comes, however, after an election marked by decisions involving different levels of justice on the day of the second round (read more below).

One of the episodes occurred at the close of voting, on October 25th. The campaigns of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) made requests to extend voting hours following reports of problems that made it difficult for voters to reach the polling stations.

Lula's campaign activated both the TSE and the STF. At around 5pm, Minister Cristiano Zanin, from the Supreme Court, ordered the voting to be extended until 7pm. As part of the sections had already finished work, the measure could not be applied in all locations.

At 5:49 pm, Kassio Nunes Marques signed a letter directing the sections that were still open to remain open until 7 pm. Later, Cristiano Zanin clarified that his decision should only be applied to places where the polls had not yet been closed.

In this Tuesday's post, Gilmar Mendes stated that the 2026 elections demonstrated that “State institutions are greater than the members who occupy them” and credited the TSE board with conducting the dispute within democratic rules.

According to him, these positions can “open space for contradictory decisions” and lead other bodies to act on issues that could have been resolved previously.

“They can open space for contradictory decisions, lead other bodies to resolve, through their own channels, what could have been resolved from the beginning and serve as a pretext for those who insist on attacking an honest and reliable electoral system”, he wrote.

In the assessment made after the election, Kassio Nunes Marques stated that the Electoral Court had conducted the election safely and that the elections took place “within the most absolute normality”.