Zanin rejected Eduardo Paes' appeal against the TSE's decision on Garotinho's votes

The Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Cristiano Zanin rejected an appeal presented by the coalition of Rio de Janeiro government candidate Eduardo Paes (PSD) this Thursday (8) against the decision of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) on the annulment of the votes received by Anthony Garotinho (Republicans) in the first round.

The minister understood that the Supreme Court does not yet have the competence to analyze the request, since not even all possibilities of appeal in the TSE itself have been exhausted.

"I am not unaware that, in exceptional situations, the Federal Supreme Court has been admitting the establishment of its jurisdiction and granting a suspensive effect to extraordinary appeals not admitted in origin, when 'the requirements of a manifest situation of verisimilitude and imminent risk of irreparable damage or difficult to repair are simultaneously present'", says the minister.

"However, in this petition, there is a different situation, namely, there is no existence, at this procedural moment, of the filing of an extraordinary appeal, let alone the carrying out of the admissibility examination by the Presidency", concludes Zanin.

TSE decision

This Thursday, the TSE decided to cancel the votes received by Anthony Garotinho (Republicans) in the first round. With the decision, TRE-RJ will retotal the votes.

The definitive annulment of Garotinho's votes changes the calculation of valid votes and allows Ruas to surpass the absolute majority necessary to win the election in the first round, without a new vote.

In the first round, held on Sunday (4), Douglas Ruas received 4,271,199 votes, equivalent to 49.27% ​​of the votes computed in the total released by the TSE. Eduardo Paes came in second place, with 3,706,984 votes (42.76%).

Douglas Ruas and Eduardo Paes — Photo: Leandro Oliveira / TV Globo and Bruno Grubertt / TV Globo

Garotinho received 274,411 votes (3.17%), initially registered as annulled sub judice because his candidacy had been rejected by the Regional Electoral Court of Rio de Janeiro (TRE-RJ), but was still pending judgment at the TSE.

The court analyzed the appeal presented by the former governor against the rejection of his candidacy, in addition to the request for withdrawal made by him after the vote.

During the trial, ministers argued that Garotinho did not meet the necessary conditions to contest the election because his political rights were suspended as a result of a conviction for administrative misconduct and he did not have a valid party affiliation.

It was also discussed whether the withdrawal of the appeal, presented after the announcement of the poll results, could be accepted given its effects on the definition of the second round.

With the definitive annulment of Garotinho's votes, the result of the election needs to be recalculated.