Brazil's Supreme Court Says Brief, Court-Ordered Vice Substitutions Don’t Count Toward Re‑Election Limits

Overview

• The court fixed a thesis that service in the final six months before an election, when based on a non-final judicial decision, does not constitute a mandate for re‑election purposes.
• The ruling has repercussão geral, binding the TSE and lower courts in current and future eligibility cases and clarifying that such substitutes need not resign within the six‑month window to run.
• The case stemmed from Allan Seixas, whose eight‑day assumption of the Cachoeira dos Índios mayoralty in 2016 had been treated by the TSE as creating a prohibited third consecutive term.
• Relator Kassio Nunes Marques led a 6–4 majority, with Zanin, Mendonça, Fux, Gilmar Mendes and Alexandre de Moraes in favor and Cármen Lúcia, Edson Fachin, Dias Toffoli and Flávio Dino dissenting.
• The thesis applies to vices at municipal, state and federal levels only when the substitution results from a provisional order, and proposals to cap the period at 90 or 15 days were discussed but not adopted.