Happy Friday! Today, members of Congress pursue voting system tweaks ahead of 2022 election. Bolsonaro takes anti-mask charge to new lows. Brazilian planemaker Embraer gets its wings back.
Lawmakers keen to change electoral rules for 2022
Led by House Speaker Arthur Lira, a group of Brazilian lawmakers are keen on rapidly changing the rules of Brazil’s electoral system to make them effective in time for the 2022 race. For that to happen, Congress would have to pass regulations by October, no less than one year prior to Election Day.
- The idea is to change Brazil’s overly complicated party list system and introduce a form of first-past-the-post voting, in which the candidates with the highest number of votes fill each state’s seats, regardless of party affiliation.
What changes. Today, if candidates from a given party combine to receive 10 percent of congressional votes in a certain state, that party will receive 10 percent of the seats up for grabs, filled by its best-voted candidates — even if their individual scores would not typically be enough to gain them seats. While the model allows for minority representation, it also results in a hyper-fragmented Congress.
- The new system would turn each state...