Senators to shelve reform that reduces electoral transparency

The Superior Electoral Court building. Photo: Marcelo Camargo/ABr

Senator Marcelo Castro announced Tuesday that the Senate will not vote this week on the so-called “mini” electoral reform approved by the House last month, effectively blocking it from taking effect in the 2024 municipal elections.

Electoral legislation must be passed at least a year before an election to take effect. Election Day will be October 6, 2024, with runoffs on October 27, if necessary. Brazilians in all municipalities will elect mayors and councilors for four-year terms.

Lawmakers in the House hastily approved new rules to significantly reduce electoral oversight and transparency, increase the leeway of political parties to spend public funds, and weaken diversity instruments for the representation of women and black candidates.

The House passed the bill on September 13 by an overwhelming vote of 367-86. The following day, Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco said in a press conference that senators were in no “hurry” to approve the bill.

The Senate made little of the bill. In the upper house, the text was not even given a rapporteur — an essential step for a bill to be debated and voted on.

Mr. Pacheco and House Speaker Arthur Lira have clashed on several occasions over political protagonism. Mr. Pacheco recently undersigned a bill that weakens the role of the House speaker in impeachment proceedings.

Senator Castro is the rapporteur of another bill on electoral reform, which passed the House in 2021. One of the main provisions of that bill is a four-year quarantine during which retired judges, police officers, prosecutors, and other officials cannot run for office. Mr. Castro said on social media that senators preferred “a broader and more consistent electoral reform.”