Electronic ballot box displayed at an event at the Regional Electoral Court of Rio de Janeiro (TRE-RJ), in Rio — Photo: Tânia Rêgo/Agência Brasil
The Regional Electoral Court of Rio de Janeiro (TRE-RJ) will carry out this Saturday (10), at 3 pm, the totalization of votes for governor of the state. The procedure should confirm the election of Douglas Ruas (PL) in the first round, after the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) annulled the votes received by Anthony Garotinho (Republicans) and former mayor Eduardo Paes (PSD) withdrew his appeal to try to guarantee the second round.
The retotalization was determined after the TSE maintained the rejection of Garotinho's candidacy registration and decided, by five votes to two, to cancel the 274,411 votes he received in Sunday's election (4).
Without these votes in the calculation of valid votes, Ruas goes from 49.27% to around 50.88% and exceeds the absolute majority required to win in the first round.
The ceremony will be held at the TRE-RJ headquarters, at the Palácio da Democracia, and will be open to the public. The recalculated result must be announced after the procedure, but the formal proclamation of the elected governor depends on the steps foreseen by the Electoral Court.
On Thursday (8), Paes tried to suspend the effects of the TSE decision in the Federal Supreme Court (STF). Minister Cristiano Zanin denied the precautionary request as he understood that there had not yet been an extraordinary appeal presented nor an admissibility analysis by the TSE.
After the decision, Paes stated on social media that he would respect the result and gave up appealing.
What is vote retotalization?
Retotalization is the procedure by which the Electoral Court recalculates the result of an election when a court decision changes the validity of votes or the status of a candidacy.
In the case of Rio, there will be no new voting or a physical recount of the votes recorded in the electronic voting machines. The votes already computed will be considered in accordance with the decision of the TSE, which determined the exclusion of Garotinho's vote from the calculation of valid votes for governor.
The change alters the percentage obtained by the other candidates because the total number of valid votes becomes smaller. With the exclusion of Garotinho's votes, Ruas surpasses the 50% mark of valid votes, which allows him to be elected in the first round.
How was the result of the first round?
In the initial count, Douglas Ruas received 4,271,199 votes, equivalent to 49.27% of the valid votes. Eduardo Paes came in second place, with 3,706,984 votes, or 42.76%. Anthony Garotinho received 274,411 votes, corresponding to 3.17%.
According to electoral rules, to win in the first round, the candidate must obtain more than half of the valid votes. Before the decision on Garotinho, none of the candidates had reached this percentage, and the forecast was for a second round between Ruas and Paes, on October 25th.
With the exclusion of Garotinho's votes, Ruas' percentage rises to approximately 50.88%. It is around 73,900 votes above the number needed to reach an absolute majority. The difference between the votes received by Ruas and Paes remains at 564,215.
Douglas Ruas and Eduardo Paes — Photo: Leandro Oliveira / TV Globo and Bruno Grubertt / TV Globo
Why were Garotinho's votes annulled?
Anthony Garotinho ran for governor of Rio for the Republicans, but his candidacy registration was rejected by the Electoral Court due to a conviction for administrative improbity. The defense argued that the ineligibility period had already been met.
Garotinho appealed to the TSE to try to reverse the rejection and, therefore, his votes appeared in the count as “annulled sub judice”, while the legal status of the candidacy was not defined.
On Monday (5), one day after the vote, the former governor asked to withdraw the appeal that sought to validate his candidacy. The request, however, was not accepted by the TSE, which understood that withdrawal after the election could interfere with the outcome of the election.
On Thursday (8), the Court maintained the rejection of the registration and decided, by five votes to two, to annul Garotinho's votes. The majority understood that the votes could not continue in the calculation of valid votes. Two ministers disagreed and defended the maintenance of the votes for the purpose of defining the need for a second round.
Why did Paes appeal to the STF?
Eduardo Paes' coalition contested the TSE's decision and asked the Supreme Court to suspend its effects. The argument was that Garotinho's votes should be considered in the calculation of the absolute majority, since he was in the ballot box and voters were able to vote for him.
For the coalition, excluding these votes after the election would disregard the will expressed at the polls and prevent the second round from taking place.
The request presented to the STF was a precautionary measure to immediately suspend the effects of the TSE judgment while the coalition tried to take the discussion to the Supreme Court through an extraordinary appeal.
Cristiano Zanin in plenary session at the STF — Photo: Victor Piemonte/STF
Zanin denied the precautionary measure for procedural reasons. The minister noted that the extraordinary appeal had not yet been presented and that the TSE had not carried out the admissibility examination. He also pointed out that the electoral court's ruling had not been attached to the case file, which prevented assessing the likelihood of success of the eventual appeal.
The decision did not represent a definitive judgment on the merit of the thesis defended by Paes. She denied the immediate suspension of the effects of the trial under the procedural conditions existing at that time.
After the decision, Paes published a message stating that he accepted the court's decision and would not appeal.
"Unfortunately, the Court decided that there will be no second round, contrary to the sovereign will of the voters. And we respect the judicial decision. That's how democracy works," wrote Paes.
With this, Paes recognized the outcome of the dispute and stopped insisting on trying to guarantee the second round.
What happens after retotalization?
After this Saturday's retotalling, the result will be announced and will be public for three days. After this period, there will be a two-day period for any objections presented by parties, federations and other legitimate parties.
If there are questions, they will be analyzed by the TRE-RJ plenary, made up of seven members. The formal announcement of the result will occur after this stage, when the full court meets to analyze any objections and conclude the procedure.
The president of TRE-RJ, judge Cláudio de Mello Tavares, also ordered the suspension of electoral advertising on radio and television until the final result is announced.
The expectation is that, once the planned steps have been completed, Douglas Ruas will be formally proclaimed governor elected in the first round, without a second vote against Eduardo Paes.
State deputy Douglas Ruas (PL), president of Alerj — Photo: Alex Ramos/Alerj
