2020 Brazilian municipal elections

The 2020 Brazilian municipal elections will take place on 15 and 29 November 2020 (for cities with more than 200,000 voters, where the second round is available).[1] Electors chose Mayors, Vice-Mayors and City Councillors of all 5,568 cities of the country. The partisan conventions will take place between 20 July and 5 August. These will be the first elections since Bolsonaro's election as President.

2020 Brazilian municipal elections

15 November 2020 (first round) 29 November 2020 (second round, if necessary)
Mayors and councillors of all the 5,568 municipalities of Brazil
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Baleia Rossi Bruno Araújo Alfredo Cotait Neto Party PMDB PSDB PSD Last election 1,037 803 541   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Ciro Nogueira Carlos Siqueira Carlos Lupi Party PP PSB PDT Last election 495 415 336

Electoral calendar

The Superior Electoral Court defined on 17 December 2019 the Electoral Calendar for 2020 Brazilian municipal election. According to the calendar, the first round should take place on October 4, and the second round, on October 25, from 8 am to 5 pm in both cases. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, these dates were moved forward to 15 November and 29 November, respectively. [2] [3]

2020 Electoral Calendar

Date	Event
1 January	Entities or companies conducting polls related to elections or possible candidates are required to register information in the Electoral Polling Registration System up to 5 days before disclosure
1 January	Free distribution of goods, values or benefits by the public administration is prohibited, except in cases of public calamity, state of emergency or social programs authorized by law and already under budget execution in the previous year
1 April	TSE starts to broadcast institutional advertisements on radio and TV to encourage female, youth and black community participation in politics
4 April	Limit for political parties interested in running for election to have the registrations approved by the TSE
15 May	Pre-candidates will be able to make prior fundraising in crowdfunding
4 July	It is forbidden to hire artistic shows paid for with public funds when conducting inaugurations
31 August	Conventions are allowed to choose coalitions and candidates for Mayor, Vice-Mayor and City Councilor
31 August	Last day for the Electoral Justice to disclose the spending limits for each position in dispute
16 September	Last day for conventions for choosing coalitions and candidates for Mayor, Vice Mayor and Councilor
26 September	Last day for parties and coalitions to submit an application for registration of candidates to the Electoral Court
26 September	Date from which electoral propaganda will be allowed, including on the internet
31 October	Date from which no candidate may be arrested or detained, except in flagrante delicto
5 November	Last day for the voter to request a duplicate of the ticket within the electoral domicile
10 November	Date from which no voter can be arrested or detained, except in flagrante delicto or by virtue of a condemnatory criminal sentence for an unspeakable crime
12 November	Last day to broadcast free electoral propaganda on radio and TV for the first round
12 November	Last day for radio and TV debates for the first round
15 November	First Round
27 November	Last day to broadcast free electoral propaganda on radio and TV for the second round
27 November	Last day for radio and TV debates for the second round
29 November	Second Round

Background

The 2020 municipal elections will be the first since the general elections of 2018, since they will be the rise of bolsonarism, a movement in support of President Jair Bolsonaro, also, so a new political-electoral dynamic is emerging on the political scene and, in a way, will be an assessment of the President's electoral strength.[4]

The 2018 general elections, in addition to choosing the President of the Republic, the Governors of State and the Federal District, Senators and Federal, State and District Deputies, granted new Mayors to many cities in the country. This happened due to the fact of art. 14, §6, of the Constitution, establish that:

To run for other positions, the President of the Republic, the State and Federal District Governors and the Mayors must resign their respective mandates up to six months before the election. - Article 14, §6, of the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brasil[5]

Thus, many Mayors, wishing to run for other positions, had to resign their mandate until April 5, 2018, starting a new management in such Municipalities. Those who took on such management would be responsible for the remaining period, that is, until December 31, 2020.

The following Mayors resigned from their post to be a candidate for Governor in 2018:

• Carlos Amastha (PSB), Mayor of Palmas;[6]
• Carlos Eduardo Alves (PDT), Mayor of Natal;[7]
• Marcus Alexandre (PT), Mayor of Rio Branco; [8]
• João Doria (PSDB), Mayor of São Paulo;[9]
• José Ronaldo (DEM), Mayor of Feira de Santana.[10]

Of the Mayors mentioned above, only one was successful, João Dória, the others, in addition to not winning the elections they disputed, lost their positions as Mayor.[11][12][13][14]

In March 2020, a discussion involving the postponement of the election surrounded the Congress, due to the coronavirus pandemic in Brazil. Some mayors and federal deputies propose that the election should be re-scheduled to 2021 or 2022, fusing with the 2022 general election.[15][16][17] Both President of the Superior Electoral Court, Justice Rosa Weber, and President of the Chamber of Deputies, deputy Rodrigo Maia (DEM-RJ), state that it is "a premature debate" and that it could cause "a very large institutional risk", respectively.[18][19] Federal deputy Aécio Neves (PSDB-MG) filed in a bill to postpone the election to October 2022 and unify all the elections, reduce the term length for Senators to 4 years, ban re-election for Executive seats (President, Governors and Mayors) and increase their term length to 5 years.[20]

Election system

Mayoral election

The mayoral election has a difference depending on the population of the municipality in question. In municipalities with up to 200,000 voters the first-past-the-post system is used, while in municipalities more than 200,000 the two-round system is used, in compliance with article 77 of the Constitution.[5]

The Municipality will be governed by an organic law, voted in two rounds, with a minimum intersection of ten days, and approved by two thirds of the members of the City Council, who will promulgate it, in compliance with the principles established in this Constitution, in the Constitution of the respective State and the following precepts:

I - election of the Mayor, the Vice-Mayor and the Councilors, for a term of four years, by means of a direct and simultaneous election held throughout the country;

II - election of the Mayor and the Vice-Mayor held on the first Sunday of October of the year preceding the end of the mandate of those who must succeed, applying the rules of art. 77, in the case of Municipalities with more than two hundred thousand voters;

III - inauguration of the Mayor and the Vice-Mayor on January 1 of the year following the election;

IV - for the composition of the City Councils, the maximum limit of:

[Limited number of members of the City Councils in the country according to the number of inhabitants, ranging from 9 councilors (for cities with uo 15,000 people) to 55 councilors (for cities with more than 8,000,000, only one Municipality: São Paulo)]

[...]

- Article 29 of the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil[5]

.

The election of the President and Vice-President of the Republic will take place, simultaneously, on the first Sunday of October, in the first round, and on the last Sunday of October, in the second round, if any, of the previous year. the end of the current presidential term.

§1. The election of the President of the Republic will import that of the Vice-President registered with him.

§2. The candidate who, registered by a political party, obtains an absolute majority of votes will be considered elected, not counting the blank and null votes.

§3. If no candidate reaches an absolute majority in the first vote, a new election will be held within twenty days after the result is proclaimed, with the two most voted candidates running and the one with the most valid votes being considered elected.

§4. If, before the second round takes place, death, withdrawal or legal impediment of a candidate occurs, the one with the most votes will be called, among the remainder.

§5. If, in the hypothesis of the previous paragraphs, more than one candidate with the same vote remains in second place, the oldest will be qualified.

- Article 77 of the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil.[5]

City Council election

The election for City Councils uses the system of proportional representation by open list, however, unlike previous elections, there will be no formation of coalitions for Municipal Legislative Powers, so each party will form a separate list.[4][21]

Results

National level

In the 2016 municipal elections, parties had the following votes at national level:

Mayoral Election

Party	2016 Votes	2020 Votes	Swing	Mayors Elected In 2016	Mayors Elected in 2020	Swing
PSDB	17,633,653			803
MDB (former PMDB)	15,026,090			1,037
PSB	8,407,656			415
PSD	8,085,600			541
PT	6,795,749			255
PDT	6,404,512			336
PP	5,747,833			495
DEM	4,937,238			267
PL (former PR)	4,553,814			298
REP (former PRB)	3,882,124			105
PTB	3,565,309			261
CDN (former PPS)	2,621,541			122
PSOL	2,098,633			2
PCdoB	1,781,388			83
PSC	1,761,906			88
PV	1,691,428			102
SD	1,469,099			63
REDE	995,447			6
PHS	957,467	Merged with PODE[22]		38	Merged with PODE[22]
PMN	797,497			28
PODE (former PTN)	697,627			29
PROS	687,250			53
PSL	487,592			31
PMB	283,369			4
PATRI (former PEN)	286,493			14
PRP	280,645	Merged with PATRI[22]		18	Merged with PATRI[22]
PTC	268,155			15
Avante (former PTdoB)	267,680			13
DC (former PSDC)	211,648			9
PRTB	162,418			9
PPL	158,650	Merged with PCdoB [22]		4	Merged with PCdoB[22]
PSTU	78,256			-
NOVO	38,512			-
PCB	24,501			-
PCO	5,689			-
UP[23]	New			New
Source: Uol[24]

References

1. "Saiba quais regras vão vigorar nas eleições municipais de 2020". G1 (in Portuguese). Retrieved 27 January 2020.
2. "Eleições 2020: confira as datas do calendário eleitoral". G1 (in Portuguese). Retrieved 27 January 2020.
3. "Eleições 2020: confira as datas do calendário eleitoral". G1 (in Portuguese). Retrieved 3 July 2020.
4. "Eleição de 2020 já tem mais de 200 pré-candidatos a prefeituras de capitais". Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). 5 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
5. "Constituição da república federativa do Brasil de 1988". www.planalto.gov.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 11 February 2020.
6. "Você sabia? Além de Amastha, outros quatros prefeitos renunciaram os cargos no TO | Gazeta do Cerrado |". | Gazeta do Cerrado | (in Portuguese). 9 April 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
7. "Prefeito de Natal anuncia renúncia ao cargo e pré-candidatura ao Governo do RN". G1 (in Portuguese). Retrieved 28 January 2020.
8. "Com renúncia de Marcus Alexandre, PT perde único prefeito entre as Capitais". ContilNet - O Acre em um só lugar - Portal de Notícias do Acre (in Portuguese). 27 March 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
9. "Doria renuncia ao cargo, e Bruno Covas é o novo prefeito de São Paulo". Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). 6 April 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
10. "José Ronaldo deixa o cargo de prefeito de Feira de Santana". G1 (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 January 2020.
11. "Resultado da apuração das Eleições 2018 - Acre para governador, senador, deputado federal e deputado estadual". G1 (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 January 2020.
12. "Resultado da apuração do 2º turno das Eleições 2018 - Rio Grande do Norte (RN) para governador, senador, deputado federal e deputado estadual". G1 (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 January 2020.
13. "João Doria, do PSDB, é eleito governador de São Paulo". G1 (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 January 2020.
14. "Resultado da apuração das Eleições 2018 - Bahia para governador, senador, deputado federal e deputado estadual". G1 (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 January 2020.
15. "Prefeitos defendem adiamento de eleições e votação única" (in Portuguese). Estado de Minas. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
16. Borges, Laryssa (29 March 2020). "Centrão deve intensificar em abril movimento para adiar eleições" (in Portuguese). Veja. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
17. "Senadores defendem adiamento das eleições municipais para 2022" (in Portuguese). Senado Notícias. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
18. Sanches, Mariana (29 March 2020). "Coronavírus pode causar o adiamento das eleições nos Estados Unidos e no Brasil?" (in Portuguese). BBC News Brasil. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
19. Calcagno, Luiz (27 March 2020). "Adiar eleição é um 'risco institucional muito grande', afirma Maia" (in Portuguese). Correio Braziliense. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
20. Alves, Fransciny (27 March 2020). "Aécio apresentará projeto para unificação das eleições e mandato de cinco anos" (in Portuguese). O Tempo. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
21. "Entenda as mudanças na lei eleitoral que agora barram coligações para o Legislativo". Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). 16 September 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
22. "Lista de partidos políticos brasileiros extintos", Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre (in Portuguese), 14 December 2019, retrieved 30 January 2020
23. "TSE aprova registro do estatuto e do órgão de direção nacional do partido Unidade Popular (UP)". www.tse.jus.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 January 2020.
24. "Raio-x do 2º turno". www.uol. Retrieved 30 January 2020.