Municipal elections will be an “institutional experiment,” says Gilmar.

Michèlle Canes, reporter for Agência Brasil - The number of eligible voters in this year's municipal elections has increased compared to 2012: more than 144 million voters will be able to vote for mayor and city council members on October 2nd – in the 2012 election, more than 138 million people were eligible.

The numbers were released today (25) by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) and do not include the electorate of the Federal District and Fernando de Noronha, where there is no election this year, nor Brazilians residing abroad. São Paulo is the municipality with the largest number of voters, more than 8 million and 800 thousand. Araguainha, in Mato Grosso, has the smallest number, 954 voters.

The majority of the national electorate is made up of women, who, in 2016, represented 52,21% of the total, an increase of 0,32 percentage points over 2012 (51,89%).

Data from the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) also shows the number of municipalities where a second round of voting may be necessary. Of the more than 5 municipalities where elections will be held, 92 may have a second round, as they have more than 200 voters.

When releasing the data, the president of the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), Minister Gilmar Mendes, reminded that the deadline for candidate registration ends on August 15th. According to Mendes, only 122 registrations have been made so far. The expectation is that there will be around 580 candidates in the October election.

Gilmar Mendes also spoke about reducing the deadline for registering candidacies and holding supplementary elections. According to the minister, reducing the deadline has consequences regarding litigation and legal uncertainty about who is actually elected.

"We will also inevitably have annulled elections and the holding of supplementary elections. The legislation now requires, in the case of majoritarian positions, that new elections be held if there is an annulment, and not the election of the runner-up. We also have to expect to hold a greater number of supplementary elections than we have had until now," said Mendes.

When questioned about the spending limits set for mayoral and city council candidates, Gilmar Mendes responded: "What the legislator did was take the highest declared expenditure and apply the reduction." The spending limits were released last week, and in some locations, the maximum allowed exceeds those of other municipalities with larger populations.

"What we are seeing is that, certainly, in these municipalities, for some reason, and I think the case of Manaus is the most evident, a declaration was made that did not correspond in the slightest to the facts," added Mendes. He explained that what the legislator wanted to do was "a snapshot" of the expenses, applying a reduction factor, and the result is this somewhat distorted snapshot.

"It is undoubtedly a delicate matter and will have to be submitted to the TSE [Superior Electoral Court], to the collegiate body, for deliberation. But the good intentions and good faith of the legislator are evident. However, he did not anticipate the distortions perpetrated by statements that do not correspond in the slightest to reality," the minister stated.

Box 2

In the interview, the minister defended political reform and also spoke about the issue of undeclared campaign contributions, or illegal financing in election campaigns. He said that the issue is worrying, considering the established spending limits and the possibility of a lack of regular funding.

"Some newspapers have published, even suggesting the possibility that criminal organizations will participate in elections more emphatically – not that they haven't participated before – due to these established restrictions. [For] those involved in illegal activities, it will simply be another illegal act. On the other hand, I believe that legitimate companies, given all these ongoing operations – Lava Jato and others – will not, in principle, be inclined to participate in an off-the-books campaign financing operation, considering all the consequences we are witnessing and monitoring. Therefore, we have a very complex reality that we will have to follow," stated Gilmar Mendes.