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      TSE upholds decision regarding federal caucus.

      Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) decided to maintain, for the October elections, the format of state delegations in the Chamber of Deputies used during the 2010 election; the Supreme Federal Court (STF) had already ruled unconstitutional the modification of the number of parliamentarians based on population variations from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE); with the rule being maintained, Pernambuco, which would have lost one seat with the change, remains with 25 seats in the Federal Chamber.

      The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) decided to maintain, in the October elections, the format of the state delegations in the Chamber of Deputies used during the 2010 election; the Supreme Federal Court (STF) had already considered unconstitutional the modification of the number of parliamentarians based on population variations from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE); with the maintenance of the rule, Pernambuco, which would lose one seat with the change, remains with 25 seats in the Federal Chamber (Photo: Paulo Emílio)

      Pernambuco 247 - Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) decided to maintain, for the October elections, the format of state delegations in the Chamber of Deputies used during the 2010 election. The decision, unanimously approved, was the last one made by the TSE before the July recess. Hours earlier, the Supreme Federal Court (STF) had already ruled unconstitutional the modification of the number of parliamentarians based on population variations from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). With the rule upheld, Pernambuco, which would have lost one seat with the change, remains with 25 seats in the Federal Chamber.

      "Due to the declaration of unconstitutionality, in order to avoid a normative void, the effects of Resolution 23.220 shall be maintained for these elections, and only for these elections, issued in 2010 for the election of that year," declared the president of the court, Minister Dias Toffoli, during the assembly. "Thus, the effectiveness of 2010 is maintained, as are the distributions of federal and state seats made for the 2010 elections," Toffoli added.

      The previous proposal aimed to use IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) population data to determine the size of state delegations, which would reduce the number of representatives from the states of Alagoas, Espírito Santo, Pernambuco, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Paraíba, and Piauí. At the same time, the number of parliamentarians would increase in Amazonas, Santa Catarina, Ceará, Minas Gerais, and Pará. However, the Supreme Federal Court (STF) ruled that calculating the size of the delegations was not the responsibility of the Electoral Court, but rather of Congress.

      Currently, Alagoas has nine federal deputies; Espírito Santo and Piauí have 10 each; Pernambuco has 25 and Paraná, 17. Amazonas has eight parliamentarians, Santa Catarina, 16; Ceará, 22; Minas Gerais, 53 and Pará, 30. According to the constitution, states can have a minimum of eight and a maximum of 70 parliamentarians, depending on the population.

      If the number of parliamentarians were modified, the resolution would also influence the legislative assemblies and the Legislative Chamber of the Federal District, due to the rule that relates the number of federal parliamentarians to the number of state deputies in each federative unit. The last modification made to the Chamber of Deputies' representation was carried out in 1993.