The Federal Police (PF) has so far arrested 31 candidates in this year’s municipal elections who had outstanding arrest warrants. The most recent report was updated at 5 pm this Friday (20). The arrests took place in ten states, and the outstanding warrants are for various crimes, most of which are for non-payment of child support, but also homicide, rape, drug trafficking and corruption.
According to the law, anyone with an outstanding arrest warrant is not prevented from running for office, if they have not been convicted by a collegiate court or have a final conviction. However, the person may be arrested if they are found. Starting this Saturday (21), however, candidates running in the municipal elections may not be detained or arrestedexcept in cases of flagrant crime.
According to the rule, candidates for the positions of mayor, deputy mayor and councilor are prohibited from detention during the 15 days preceding the first round of the election, which this year will be held on the first Sunday in October (6th). The rule is set out in Paragraph 1 of Article 236 of the Electoral Code (Law No. 4,737/1965).
Elections 2024
In this year’s election, the positions of mayor, deputy mayor and city councilor are up for grabs in 5,569 municipalities. The TSE counts 5,569 vacancies for city halls, plus 5,569 vacancies for deputy mayors, in addition to 58,444 vacancies for city councilors in the municipal chambers, which represent the legislative branch of the cities.
On October 6, more than 463,350 candidates will compete for positions as mayors, deputy mayors and councilors in 5,569 municipalities, according to data from the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
Brazil has 155.9 million people eligible to vote in this year’s elections. Since these are municipal elections, voters abroad are not required to vote.
