Senate Committee Proposes Holding 2020 Municipal Elections November 15th and 29th

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The final report on the PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution), which provides for the deferment of this year’s municipal elections as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic, set November 15th and 29th for their holding. Senator Weverton Rocha, rapporteur of the proposal, delivered the report on Tuesday morning, June 23rd.

The vote in the Senate was scheduled to start yesterday afternoon. Officially, the current schedule establishes the first and second rounds on October 4th and 25th, respectively. There was still uncertainty regarding the date for the second round to be included in the report. Senators had already agreed that the first round would be held on November 15th.

The report ignored the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) suggestion that the second round take place in December. Although there is already consensus within the Senate on deferring municipal elections, the project is still facing resistance in the Chamber of Deputies.

Although all municipal assembly seats are determined in the first round of voting, the voting system for mayor is different. The constitution provides that, in those municipalities having more than 200,000 eligible voters, there must be a runoff election, between the top two votegetters, if no mayoralty candidate has achieved at least 50%, plus one, of all valid votes in the first round.

The deadlock between the two houses prevented the creation of a joint committee of deputies and senators to study the deferment. To pass in the Chamber, the proposal needs to be approved by the full membership in two separate votes, and gain the support of at least three-fifths of all deputies (308 votes out of 513). Two separate votes are also required in the Senate, with the measure requiring the positive vote of at least 49 senators (two-thirds of the total 81).

In a meeting with the senators on Monday, Luis Roberto Barroso, the TSE’s Chief judge, asked for the report to include what he termed an “escape valve” in cases of municipalities where there is an increase in cases of coronavirus contagion and where the elections need to be postponed a little longer.

That would be a possibility of extending the electoral deadline in 2020. According to the rapporteur, this issue will be covered in the report. As a result, some municipalities will be able to hold elections until December 27th. The judge also advocated a potential amnesty of fines for failure to vote, but considered that voters should work to justify their absence during the vote. According to Barroso, the TSE’s proposal for postponement is based “strictly on medical-scientific opinion”.

Barroso also urged the senators to extend this year’s election campaign, which, according to the judge, is unlikely to cause difficulties. With the date for party conventions being maintained – between July 20th and August 5th – and for the registration of candidacies – between August 5th and August 15th – the campaign would be exceptionally extended for almost two months. The measure would simplify the registration of candidacies by the Electoral court system.

Source: Folhapress