This Monday (5), Anthony Garotinho withdrew the appeal presented to the TSE against the rejection of his candidacy for the government of RJ. The results of the elections in the state will still be ratified by the TSE.
By Márcio Falcão, TV Globo and g1 — Brasília
The plenary session of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) will analyze this Thursday (8) the case involving the candidacy of Anthony Garotinho (Republicans) for the government of Rio de Janeiro and could define the course of the elections in the state.
Douglas Ruas (PL) and Eduardo Paes will compete in the 2nd round of the election for the government of RJ. The result, however, will still be ratified by the TSE itself: if the board decides to invalidate Garotinho's votes, Ruas will win in the 1st round (understand the impasse below).
READ ALSO: Without Garotinho’s votes, Ruas would win in the 1st round; understand impasse in RJ
On Monday (5), Garotinho's defense filed with the TSE a term of withdrawal of the ordinary electoral appeal that discussed the registration of the candidacy. The process is being reported by Minister Floriano de Azevedo Marques.
In the document, Garotinho's defense stated that the candidate's decision is “free, express, conscious and irreversible”.
The lawyers cited article 998 of the Code of Civil Procedure and argued that Garotinho could withdraw from the appeal at any time, without the need for agreement from the other parties.
This Tuesday (6), the coalition "Together to Change, Courage to Rebuild", of candidate Eduardo Paes (PSD), filed a request with the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) to ask that the second round in the RJ elections be confirmed even after Anthony Garotinho (Republicans) withdrew.
"What cannot be admitted, due date, is that the effect of the rejection is produced by the candidate himself, to the detriment of the Rio de Janeiro community, in particular that portion that voted for him, trusting that he was able to participate in the electoral process", he states.
Paes further argues that Garotinho participated in the electoral process with all the prerogatives of a candidate; received public campaign resources; occupied free electoral hours; participated in debates; had his name and number in the ballot box and received the due vote as a candidate.
The former mayor of Rio also states that Garotinho "remained a candidate while his candidacy served to compete for votes with one of the opposing candidates, and gave up on it at the exact moment that his votes started to prevent the victory, in the first round, of the candidacy supported by his son".
Earlier, the Public Electoral Ministry (MPE) expressed itself in favor of the request to withdraw the appeal presented by Garotinho.
READ ALSO: Without Garotinho’s votes, Ruas would win in the 1st round; understand impasse in RJ
Garotinho arrived on election day with his candidacy registration rejected, but with an appeal pending judgment. Therefore, the votes received by him appear as annulled sub judice.
The rule is provided for in article 18 of TSE Resolution No. 23,677/2021. It establishes that votes given to a ticket whose registration is rejected, canceled or unknown, but whose decision is still subject to appeal, are computed in this way.
🔎 Votes annulled sub judice are votes given to a candidate whose legal situation has not yet been definitively defined by the Electoral Court. Therefore, unlike common invalid votes, they are now included in the calculation of the percentages obtained by candidates in the majority election.
The validity of these votes, however, depends on the outcome of the judicial process.
Suspended injunction
Garotinho's candidacy registration process was rejected by the TRE-RJ due to a conviction for administrative improbity. The former governor's defense argues that the period of ineligibility would have ended in July — and appealed.
The appeal was presented to the TRE-RJ itself, which collects an opinion from the Public Electoral Ministry and others interested in the action — including Eduardo Paes' coalition — and sends it to the higher court.
This is the process that defines the validity or otherwise of the votes given to Garotinho.
On another front, the former governor entered the TSE to guarantee his campaign even with the rejection of his candidacy. It was in this process that Minister Floriano Marques decided, last Friday (2), that the votes given to Garotinho should not be considered.
On Sunday, however, the president of the TSE, Kassio Nunes Marques, determined that the votes given to Garotinho were "considered in the calculation of the percentages obtained by each candidate for the majority election, until a collegial decision is made by the Superior Electoral Court".
Anthony Garotinho participates in a press conference after the debate on Globo — Photo: Globo/Manoella Mello
Government of RJ
With 100% of the ballots counted, Ruas had 4,271,199 votes and appeared with 49.27% of valid votes. Eduardo Paes (PSD), second place, received 3,706,984 votes, or 42.76%. Garotinho had 274,411 votes, equivalent to 3.17%.
Without Garotinho's votes in the calculation base, the percentage of candidates rises, and Ruas exceeds the 50% needed to win the election in the first round. If the votes are considered invalid, however, nothing changes.
The TSE did not take a position on what will be done if Garotinho's request is accepted.
In this scenario, Ruas is below 50%, and the two candidates with the most votes are called up for the 2nd round. Without Garotinho's 274,411 votes, the total base would fall from 8,669,038 to 8,394,627 votes.
With the same votes received by the other candidates, but a smaller base for calculating percentages, the numbers rise, and thus, Ruas would have the number of votes necessary to win the election in the first round.
