The reform makes a series of rules more flexible, such as the use of the Electoral Fund, accountability and the 30% female quota
Deputies are getting together and rushing to vote in the next few days on the mini-electoral reform drawn up by a Chamber working group. The proposals need to be voted on in the Lower House and the Senate and be sanctioned by October 6 for the new rules to be valid in the 2024 elections.
Despite having the name “mini”the reform is broad and makes a series of rules more flexible, such as the use of the Electoral Fund, accountability and the 30% female quota.
One of the changes allows donations via Pix to be made by individuals with any key, without the need for a CPF. The current rule says that donations must be made by CPF and there is a limit of 10% of the gross income declared by the donor to the IRS in the year before the election. The text proposed by the deputies does not say whether this 10% limit will be maintained.
The proposal, which may still undergo changes in the plenary, establishes that financial institutions must send the donor profile report to the Electoral Court, parties and candidates within 72 hours after the transaction.
Furthermore, the proposal defines that the minimum quota of 30% for female candidates in federations will be defined in total, not individually in federated parties.
Read the summary of planned electoral changes below:
The working group was chaired by deputy Dani Cunha (União Brasil-RJ), daughter of the former president of the Chamber Eduardo Cunha. In addition to her, 6 other deputies were in the group:
The 2 projects under discussion underwent a series of changes after being presented to party leaders this Tuesday (September 12, 2023).
Here are some excerpts that were withdrawn:
- permission to advertise on election day on networks;
- end of size requirements for electoral advertising on cars;
- fine as an alternative sanction instead of revocation of diploma;
- permission to use the Electoral Fund for care services during the campaign – the text did not specify what the care was.
Without a consolidated proposal, there will be more discussions. As a result, voting should be compromised this week. However, as it is in the interest of the entire political class, Electoral changes must be approved quickly when they are discussed in the plenary by deputies.
Electoral changes should not stop there. This Wednesday (September 13th), the amnesty special committee of the PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) votes on the text that should, among other points, forgive irregularities in the reporting of parties, party foundations and electoral campaigns.
The rapporteur of the mini-electoral reform, deputy Rubens Pereira Jr., stated that although more complex changes are left out of this reform, such as policies for fake news and review of the quota system, these topics should be discussed in the future by deputies.
O Power360 explains below the main points of the mini-electoral reform:
Electoral Fund and Party Fund
One of the sections of the proposal establishes that, during the 2nd half of election years, sanctions will not be applied to parties and federations even if the bills have been rejected.
Furthermore, the lack of accountability will only result in the suspension of new quotas from the Party Fund until they are regularized. The entire amount received is kept with the party and can be moved.
There is also a prohibition on the seizure and blocking of resources from the Party Fund and the Electoral Fund for the fulfillment of obligations of a civil, labor, criminal, tax or other nature. The caveat is if something illegitimate is found by the Electoral Court.
The text also provides that candidates can use the Party Fund for personal security, regardless of gender, and for legal dependents, from party conventions to the 2nd round, wherever applicable.
The project also gives the possibility of making the fund destined exclusively for women more flexible, setting precedents for male candidates, as long as in their campaign materials/actions, female and black candidates benefit in some way.
Conventions and registration
Brings forward the period of party conventions for choosing candidates and deliberating on coalitions by 15 days. The meetings must be held from July 10th to 25th of the year in which the elections are held. Previously, the deadline was from July 20th to August 5th.
Reduces the deadline for parties to register their candidates from 10 to 6 days. Acronyms must request registrations by 7pm on July 31st of the election year.
According to the rapporteur, the change does not cause harm to the parties and gives the Electoral Court more time to judge the records.
The presentation by the party, coalition or candidate of documents produced based on information held by bodies of the Judiciary is exempt.
Sets a deadline of up to 5 days after the registration request for the Superior Electoral Court to make available to political parties the percentages of candidacies by sex and race registered in each party, at national, state and municipal levels.
Female quota
Defines the conduct that is considered to constitute fraud in gender quotas, such as:
- failure to carry out effective campaign acts and campaign expenses;
- lack of transfer of party financial resources;
- election result “which reveals that there was no campaign effort, with insignificant results”.
The project also defines that the quota of female candidates, in the case of party federations, the minimum percentage of candidates will be “measured globally on the federation list, and not on each member party”.
Under current law, each party or coalition must meet the minimum 30% for female candidates.
Advertising on the internet
The main change is the no obligation for the candidate to indicate the name of the vice-president, coalition and parties that integrate it into every content published on the internet.
According to the text, it will be enough to present this information on the home page of profiles and official pages maintained by the candidate or political party.
In the case of leftover credits contracted with internet providers and platforms, they will have a period of 10 days after the election to transfer the remaining balance to the party or candidate’s bank account.
If the provider or platform fails to comply with the determination, the candidate or party cannot be ordered to return resources to the treasury.
Political violence against women
Enlarge the list of victims of political violence against the female pre-candidate and any woman who suffers this type of violence due to political, party or electoral activity.
Ineligibility period
The complementary project deals with the candidacy rules for policies that have already been condemned. Current law determines the ineligibility period in the 8 years following the end of the term for which they were elected.
The reform proposal determines that the 8-year period of ineligibility is counted from the date of the decision to decree the loss of elected office.
The text also determines the inclusion of the time elapsed between the date of the decision issued by a collegiate body and the date of its effective final judgment in the calculation of the 8-year period of ineligibility.
Accountability
It simplifies the accountability of party bodies that have not had financial transactions, nor have collected estimable assets in cash.
The project limits the scope of sanctions applied to bodies of parties that are part of federations only to the acronyms targeted by the measure, without extending them to the entire federation. It will be valid in cases of non-rendering of accounts or accounts considered as not being rendered and “will only reach the respective party body”.
Free electoral propaganda
The Regional Electoral Courts must make available information on the free advertising time reserved for candidacies from women and people of color based on the information provided to the Electoral Court.
The project determines that the 30% quota for women is met weekly in free electoral advertisements on radio and television. If the percentage is not met in a given week, it must be compensated the following week.
Election polls
The text requires that the statistician responsible for the commissioned research must sign it with digital certification and his registration number with the Professional Council.
The proposal prohibits polls from being held during party conventions. However, the project does not exemplify which types of polls are prohibited.
Collective applications
Establishes rules for collective candidacies, which must be regulated by the party statute or by resolution of the National Directory, in addition to being authorized by convention.
The project determines that party rules related to collective candidacies are considered “matter internal corporis” of acronyms. The party will have the autonomy to define the requirements for modulating the collective candidacy.
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