Brazil electoral court approves first federation of parties

Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court on Tuesday (May 24) approved the registration of the Federação Brasil da Esperança, or Federation Brazil of Hope, also referred to as FE Brasil, made up of the Workers’ Party (PT), the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), and the Green Party (PV). The move makes official the creation of the first federation of political parties to run for the elections in October.

The parties had decided to form a federation back in March, but the decision was pending validation from the Electoral Court.

The law establishing party federations was passed in August last year in Congress, and stipulates that parties joining in a federation must remain together for at least four years, the length of their mandates. Each party, however, retains its autonomy as well as its identification number on voting machines.

The strategy is often resorted to by small parties seeking to evade the so-called cláusulas de barreira (literally “barrier clauses”) before undergoing a definitive merger or incorporation.

Barrier clauses

Barrier clauses, also known as performance clauses, were designed to lower the number of political parties—officially 32 countrywide. Each party is required a minimum performance at the elections for office in the lower house in order to gain access to the party fund as well as free airing time on radio and TV.

The rule also stipulates that the minimum performance is increased with each election until 2030. In 2022, parties must reach a minimum two percent of valid votes, distributed across at least nine of the 27 Brazilian states, with a minimum of one percent of the valid votes in each state. An alternative is to have at least 11 federal representatives elected in at least nine states.