Brazil’s Chamber passes electoral reform in second round vote; coalitions return

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday evening, August 17, passed the electoral reform by 347 votes in favor, 135 against and 3 abstentions.

Deputies approved the return of party coalitions and maintained the rejection of the “distritão,” whereby the candidates with the most votes would be elected, irrespective of party votes.

The Chamber is still to vote on amendments to the basic text proposed after it has been passed. After that, the proposal will be submitted to the Senate where it requires the support of 49 of the 81 senators, also in two voting rounds. To be effective for the 2022 elections, the PEC (proposed constitutional amendment) will need to be passed by October.

To pass the text in the first round last week, deputies reached an agreement to remove the provision allowing the adoption of the “distritão” and keep the current system, but with the reinstatement of party coalitions starting next elections, which had been abolished in 2017.

Coalitions are applicable to legislative elections of federal and state deputies and city councilors. With this provision, several parties may join together in a bloc to dispute elections, which favors “rent-a-party” entities with no ideology or specific agendas.

The bill will be met with resistance in the Senate. Its president Rodrigo Pacheco (DEM-MG) says he considers the return of coalitions a “step backwards.” He says that the trend in the Senate is to keep the rules as they are today, with no coalitions.

However, Chamber president Arthur Lira (PP-AL) on Tuesday said that Pacheco is willing to schedule the matter. “I asked president Pacheco to schedule the PEC in the Senate, if the Chamber passes it in the second round. But with no commitment to the outcome. Senators will decide the result,” Lira said.

Proportional system vs. “distritão”

The proportional system, to be maintained, works as follows: the total number of votes is divided by the number of available seats. Thus, the so-called electoral quotient is reached, i. e., the minimum number of votes that each party, counting all candidates, needs in order to elect someone.

In a simplified example, one could say that in a town of 10,000 voters and 5 available seats, the electoral quotient is 2,000 (10,000/5). This means that in order to elect someone from the party, all party candidates combined must garner at least 2,000 votes.

If a party’s candidates together secure 6,000 of the 10,000 votes, they guarantee 3 seats for the party. The 3 most voted people in the party win, even if other party candidates get more votes than some of them.

Under the “distritão” system, this is not the case. Candidates with the most votes would be elected, irrespective of their party. Thus, the chances for political renewal and the entry of lesser-known candidates are lower – one of the main criticisms of the “distritão.”

Other changes

The text also changes the date of inauguration for federal, state and municipal executive positions. Currently, this occurs on January 1. It will now be January 5 for president and vice president and January 6 for governors and mayors.

In addition, under the proposal, votes for female and black candidates for the Chamber will count twice when determining the distribution of financial resources among parties. The rule is effective for elections between 2022 and 2030.

The deputies removed the suggested “preferential” vote for president, governor and mayor from the PEC. The proposal by rapporteur deputy Renata Abreu (Podemos-SP) was for voters to be able to choose 5 candidates according to their preference, thereby eliminating the second round. This system is common in mayoralty elections abroad, including the most recent vote in New York City, but is very rarely applied in larger jurisdictions.