Every election year, doubts about how blank and null votes impact the election resurface. Both, according to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), have no value, they are discarded during the counting process and considered only as statistics, that is, they do not interfere in the process of calculating an election or annul an election.
The Federal Constitution stipulates that the elected candidate is the one with the majority of valid votes, excluding blank and null votes, considered invalid. Therefore, only votes destined for a candidate or a party are counted.
The TSE emphasizes that the votes for each office are independent, which means that voters can, for example, vote only for President of the Republic and choose to vote blank for the other positions. In this case, the vote for president is valid even before the other blank votes.
According to the Court, even if the majority of voters annuls the vote or votes blank, the election will not be annulled, since only valid votes are considered in the election.
The Constitution, however, provides for the need to schedule a new election if the nullity reaches more than half of the votes in the country as a result of a finding, by the Electoral Court, of fraud in the election – such as, for example, the eventual impeachment of an elected candidate. convicted of vote buying.
Abstention
TSE data show that the abstention or non-attendance of voters at the polls causes financial damage to the country, since the system must be prepared for all voters to vote. In the 2010 general elections, the impact was R$ 195.2 million, considered in the first and second rounds. The figure is based on the average cost of voting for Brazil in that year’s election, calculated at R$3.63 per voter.
