The Superior Electoral Court annulled this Thursday (8) the votes given to Anthony Garotinho in the election for governor of Rio. The decision paves the way for Douglas Ruas, from PL, to be elected in the first round, but the legal dispute continues. The coalition of Eduardo Paes, from the PSD, appealed to the STF - Federal Supreme Court.
The session at the Superior Electoral Court lasted two hours.
"We are part of the electoral process, a democratic process and, therefore, all our decisions will always be decisions that interfere in the political world", said the rapporteur, minister Floriano de Azevedo Marques.
The seven ministers voted unanimously against the appeal that requested the registration of the candidacy of Anthony Garotinho, from the Republicans, and also against the request from the former governor's defense, made the day after the election, to withdraw the appeal. The ministers were just not unanimous regarding the fate of Garotinho's almost 275 thousand votes - 3.17% of the total. Five ministers voted to annul the votes: rapporteur Floriano Marques, Estela Aranha, André Mendonça, Dias Toffoli and the president of the court, Nunes Marques.
"Maintaining the rejection of the appellant's candidacy for the position of governor, based on the absence of eligibility conditions relating to the fullness of political rights and party affiliation, the votes attributed to the appellant must be considered null," said Floriano de Azevedo Marques.
"This candidacy does not exist. If it does not exist, these votes are non-existent. More than null or voidable or annulled, they are non-existent and should therefore be disregarded", stated Dias Toffoli, minister of the TSE.
"The votes attributed to the appellant must be excluded from the basis for calculating the valid vote in the first round, including for measuring the absolute majority", said Kássio Nunes Marques.
Two spoke out in favor of maintaining their votes: Sebastião Reis and Ricardo Villas Bôas Cueva.
"Admitting that the supervening invalidation of the votes attributed to a third candidate who regularly participated in the first round, in a sub judice condition, would mean restricting popular participation based on a legal situation created later, when at the time of measurement, no candidate had reached the absolute constitutionally required majority", said Ricardo Villas Bôas Cueva, inspector general of the Electoral Justice.
TSE annuls votes given to Garotinho in the election for governor of Rio — Photo: Jornal Nacional/ Reproduction
On Sunday (4), Douglas Ruas, from PL, had 49.2% of the valid votes and Eduardo Paes, from PSD, 42.7%, which would define a second round. But, without Garotinho's 3.17%, Ruas now has more than 50%, winning in the first round. Douglas Ruas was in Brasília at the time of the trial. Later, he spoke in Rio:
"The decision today was clear. So, we wait with great calm. The retotalization will take place on Saturday. We hope that the decision of the Electoral Court issued today will prevail."
This Thursday's vote (8) originates from a September decision by the Regional Electoral Court of Rio. The TRE had rejected Anthony Garotinho's candidacy because his political rights were suspended until 2033. The former governor is convicted of administrative improbity, damage to the treasury and illicit enrichment.
Garotinho appealed to the TSE. Last Friday (2), responding to an appeal from the coalition of candidate Eduardo Paes, from the PSD, minister Floriano Marques determined that Garotinho's votes would not be valid and should appear in the ballot box as "annulled", "sub judice".
On Sunday (4), election day, a new decision was made: the president of the TSE, minister Nunes Marques, ordered that the votes be considered again until the Court's final decision. The following day, with the investigation concluded, Garotinho's lawyers filed a withdrawal request with the TSE, meaning they no longer wanted to validate the candidacy.
A dispute in court that took almost a month and is still ongoing. About two hours after the session, Eduardo Paes' coalition appealed to the Federal Supreme Court, as a matter of urgency, highlighting the risk to the democratic process, and asked that the appeal not be directed to ministers André Mendonça, Dias Toffoli and Nunes Marques, who already participated in the trial at the TSE.
The coalition says that Garotinho's votes should not be discarded to the detriment of voters who voted regularly and legitimately for the candidate, trusting in the validity of his candidacy, and wants the suspension of the effects of this Thursday's trial (8) for the second round for governor of the state of Rio. Early in the evening, the Supreme Court informed that the rapporteur will be Minister Cristiano Zanin.
The Superior Electoral Court immediately communicated the result of the trial to the state's Regional Electoral Court. Rio's TRE has already decided: the retotaling of votes for governor will take place next Saturday (10), at 3pm. A new account that opens the way for Douglas Ruas, from PL, to reach the Guanabara Palace.
"A notice was published today calling on federations, coalitions, political parties, the Public Electoral Ministry and the Brazilian Bar Association to attend, if they wish, next Saturday, at 3pm. And, at that moment, obviously, the result will be given. I determined today, at that moment, that advertising be suspended. Radio, television, from today onwards cannot be carried out until the moment the result is final", said Claudio de Mello Tavares, president of the TRE.
Update
Jornal Nacional once again spoke about the electoral dispute for the government of Rio de Janeiro. On Thursday night (8), Supreme Court Minister Cristiano Zanin rejected the appeal from the coalition of Eduardo Paes, from the PSD, which had asked the STF to hold the second round.
As we saw at the beginning of this edition, the Superior Electoral Court ordered the annulment of the votes received by candidate Antony Garotinho, from the Republicans, and this decision paved the way for Douglas Ruas, from the PL, to be elected in the first round.
Minister Cristiano Zanin understood that the Supreme Court does not yet have the competence to analyze the request, since resources are still available in the TSE itself.
