Garotinho’s votes are sidelined as Rio’s first-round math shifts

Garotinho’s votes are sidelined as Rio’s first-round math shifts
Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE) has withdrawn the provisional protections that had allowed Anthony Garotinho to campaign for governor of Rio de Janeiro, leaving his candidacy visible on electronic ballots but placing its votes in legal suspense.

Minister Floriano de Azevedo Marques ordered votes cast for Garotinho, of Republicanos, to be recorded as anulados sub judice—null pending judicial review—while the appeal against the rejection of his registration is heard. The ruling also removes his access to party and campaign funds and to free election broadcasts.

The immediate rationale, emphasized in accounts from the left-leaning outlets, is electoral stability. Floriano said the court should avoid “uncertainty among voters and instability in the election” after the Rio electoral court unanimously rejected Garotinho’s registration. The decision does not settle the merits of his appeal; it governs the treatment of his candidacy while that case remains pending.

Accounts from the right-leaning outlets focus more closely on the dispute at the heart of that appeal. Garotinho’s lawyers argue that his eight-year suspension of political rights should run from August 2018, when they say the underlying administrative-misconduct judgment became final, making him eligible in 2026. The Rio court instead treats July 2025 as the final-judgment date, which would extend the suspension until 2033.

The practical effect could extend beyond Garotinho. His name and number will remain on the ballot, and the votes could be validated if the registration denial is later reversed. If not, they will remain invalid. With a Datafolha poll placing him at 8% of valid votes, excluding those votes from the valid-vote total could raise the leading candidates’ shares and affect whether the race is decided in the first round.

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