The TSE (Superior Electoral Court) plenary upholds a fine of R$ 22,9 million against the PL party for bad-faith litigation in questioning electronic voting machines.

From the website of TSE - By unanimous vote, the Plenary of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) confirmed, this Thursday (15), the conviction of the Liberal Party (PL) to pay a fine of R$ 22.991.544,60 for bad faith litigation.

In the ruling, the Plenary rejected the party's appeal and ratified the decision of the Court's president, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who had already denied the preliminary injunction. According to Moraes' decision, the party did not present any evidence or circumstances that justified the initiation of an extraordinary verification of electronic voting machines used in the second round of the 2022 Elections.

In confirming the decision this morning, the Plenary also endorsed the immediate freezing of the PL's Party Fund until the fine is effectively paid, with the amount deposited into a court account.

The Court denied the PL's request to pay the amount in installments, with Minister Raul Araújo dissenting only on this point. In disagreeing about the possibility of installment payments, Araújo emphasized that the blocking of funds should be limited to 30% of the Party Fund's resources until the party fully paid the fine, so as not to disrupt the normal functioning of party activities.

Determination of responsibilities

With the aim of investigating the practice of common and electoral crimes with the intention of disrupting the democratic regime, the Plenary also supported sending an official letter to the General Electoral Inspectorate (CGE) to initiate administrative proceedings and investigate responsibility for any misuse of party resources, including the Party Fund, and especially the conduct of the president of the PL party, Valdemar Costa Neto, and Carlos César Moretzsohn Rocha, president of the Instituto Voto Legal (IVL).

Finally, the TSE ordered that a copy of the proceedings be sent to Inquiry No. 4.874/DF, currently underway at the Supreme Federal Court (STF), for the investigation of Costa Neto and Carlos Rocha.

History of the petition and monocratic decision.

On November 22nd, the "For the Good of Brazil" coalition – which supported the reelection candidate Jair Bolsonaro – filed a petition for an extraordinary verification of the voting machines in the second round of the election, since the models prior to 2020 were supposedly not capable of individual identification, which would characterize a malfunction of the equipment.

On the same day, the president of the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) ordered the coalition to include in its initial request, within 24 hours, a request for the extraordinary verification to cover both rounds of the 2022 Elections, also including all those elected in the election, under penalty of dismissal of the petition. This amendment was not complied with. On November 23, the minister then initially applied a fine of R$ 22,9 million to the entire coalition for bad faith litigation.

On November 25th, the minister excluded the Progressive Party (PP) and the Republican Party, which were part of the "For the Good of Brazil" coalition, from the punishment. In a joint petition, the parties stated that they recognized the result and validity of the 2022 election and the victory of the "Brazil of Hope" coalition at the polls.

I vote to reject the appeal.

In today's hearing, Justice Alexandre de Moraes stated that the arguments presented by the party are not sufficient to overturn the challenged single-judge decision. "In this case, the PL [Liberal Party] is only challenging the application of the fine for bad-faith litigation, without sufficient grounds for a reconsideration," said the Justice.

Moraes pointed out that the same electronic voting machines, of all models in use, including those prior to 2020 challenged by the PL party, were employed in both the first and second rounds of voting, making it impossible to separate both periods from the same electoral process.

According to the minister, even if – hypothetically – the discussion could be restricted to the second round of this year's elections, there would be no reason for the alleged defect or supposed malfunction of electronic voting machines – if it existed – to be discussed only in relation to the presidential elections, as it should extend, at a minimum, to the second round of gubernatorial elections using the same voting machines.

"Thus, the applicant's deliberate intention to encourage criminal and anti-democratic movements became evident, including through the filing of this blatantly unfounded request," said Moraes.

In his vote, the president of the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) emphasized that it is the responsibility of the Electoral Court to curb abusive practices, to protect the democratic regime and the integrity of institutions, thus upholding the main beneficiary of democracy, which is the voter, through the free exercise of the right to vote.

“Democracy will not exist and free political participation will not flourish where there is hatred, lies, threats, aggression, and all sorts of illicit activities. In this sense, the right to petition does not allow the propagation of ideas contrary to the constitutional order and the rule of law, including by political parties, the main actors responsible for preserving the democratic rule of law,” Moraes emphasized.

The minister also stated that the Federal Constitution does not authorize ideas contrary to the constitutional order, democracy, and the rule of law, so falsehoods that undermine the fairness, normality, and legitimacy of elections must also be suppressed in a regular manner. "Participation in a democratic state governed by the rule of law presupposes compliance with the rules and, consequently, recognition of the result, which is not the case here," said the magistrate.

The decision has an educational purpose.

Later in his vote, Moraes stated that the amount of the fine imposed, combined with the proposed payment method – involving the freezing of the party's accounts and the suspension of the Party Fund – aims to ensure the effectiveness of the conviction and emphasizes the educational nature of the sanction.

"One of the great challenges of democracy is combating conspiracy theories and any other type of manipulated or false content that aims to influence the outcome of votes, creating a disastrous scenario of social breakdown," said the president of the Court.

Moraes emphasized that conflicts within a democracy, in absolute compliance with the rule of law, must be resolved with mutual respect among all the actors that comprise it. "Therefore, it is necessary for institutions to exercise their catalytic role with dignity, to the detriment of individual interests that are often contrary to the public interest," he stated.

The president of the Court pointed out that it is the Judiciary's responsibility to ensure the effectiveness of the democratic system and, consequently, of the electoral rules that guarantee the alternation of power and, if necessary, to repress illegitimate conduct, applying, without excuses, the consequences foreseen in the Federal Constitution and the laws.

Citing a ruling from the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), Moraes highlighted that the right to pay a fine in installments is not an absolute subjective right of the party, and the suitability and necessity of the method used must be observed to ensure that the chosen form of payment is proportional and in accordance with procedural good faith, which prevents unfair and abusive behavior by the parties in a lawsuit.

“The conduct of the political group was extremely serious, with wide repercussions, including through various narratives disseminated in the main media outlets that questioned the fairness of the electoral process before this Superior Court, which irresponsibly fueled criminal and anti-democratic movements,” concluded the minister, in denying the PL's appeal.

Unilateral decision from November

In his single-judge decision of November 23, Moraes stated that "as can be clearly seen" from the technical documentation included in the case file, the electronic voting machines, of all models, are perfectly capable of full, secure, and clear individual identification.

"Electronic voting machines have various physical and electronic identification mechanisms. These mechanisms are coexistent, that is, they are multiple and redundant to guarantee and safeguard the individual identification of the machines. Moreover, this is also how they protect and safeguard the secret votes cast in the electronic voting machines," stated the minister, considering the PL's allegations regarding the impossibility of tracking older model electronic voting machines to be completely false. 

Thus, given the lack of essential requirements for carrying out the extraordinary verification of the election, the president of the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) summarily dismissed the party's petition, ordering both the fine and the other measures, which were confirmed by the Plenary this morning.

Subscribe to 247, Support via Pix, Subscribe to TV 247, in the channel Cuts 247 and watch: