The majority of the ministers of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) denied today (30) a request to restrict the punishment of parties accused of fraud in the quota of female candidacies in the elections.
According to the electoral law, parties and coalitions must allocate a minimum of 30% of vacancies for women candidates. According to the understanding of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), fraud to cover up non-compliance with the quota can lead to the removal of the slate of the candidates involved.
So far, seven ministers have voted to reject a lawsuit filed by the Solidarity party. The party defended at the Supreme Court that punishment for cases of fraud should be limited to parties and candidates that participated in the illegal acts, not affecting politicians who ran in good faith.
The issue is judged in the virtual plenary, a modality in which the ministers enter the votes in the virtual system and there is no in-person deliberation. Voting will close tomorrow (31).
The vote of the rapporteur, Minister Rosa Weber, prevailed in the vote, for whom there is no illegality in the punishments. In the minister’s assessment, the gender quota policy is increasing female participation in politics.
“The data provided by the TSE show that, in 2022, the percentage of female candidacies for the position of federal deputy increased in relation to 2018 (from 32% to 35%), the same having occurred with regard to candidates for the position of senator of the Republic (from 18% to 24%), state deputy (from 32% to 34%) and district deputy (from 31% to 35%), as well as candidates for the position of councilor, from 33% in 2016 to 35% in 2020,” he said.
Ministers Ricardo Lewandowski, André Mendonça, Cármen Lúcia, Edson Fachin, Dias Toffoli and Alexandre de Moraes followed the vote of the rapporteur.
