Law 9.504/97 , known as the Election Law , reaffirms many constitutional precepts regarding Electoral Law.
Indeed, when dealing with the functioning of elections in Brazil, the Election Law, together with the Electoral Code and other Complementary Laws, guarantees the integrity of the electoral process.
What are the most important points of the Election Law?
In summary, some rules are established to regulate candidate registration , campaign resources, election advertising, party coalitions, and other specific details that will be discussed in this article.
Of the Coalitions
Right from the start of its drafting, Law 9.604/97 provides for party coalitions, which are alliances formed between political parties to achieve common goals in elections.
However, these alliances cannot be formed haphazardly; therefore, the Election Law, in article 6, establishes how these coalitions between the political parties involved will be formed:
"Article 6 – Political parties within the same electoral district are permitted to form coalitions for majority elections, proportional elections, or both. In the latter case, more than one coalition may be formed for the proportional election among the parties that are part of the coalition for the majority election."
Candidate Registrations
Next, the legislation addresses a crucial point in the electoral process: the registration of candidates.
On that note, it's important to mention that there is no candidacy without a party affiliation, as the registration of a candidacy can only be done by the party or coalition to which the pre-candidate is affiliated.
This specific section of the law outlines the dates used as the basis for applying for candidacy; the number of candidates that must be registered per party; and the list of documents required for registration.
Campaign Financing
Every campaign has expenses and needs to be financed, either by the Special Campaign Financing Fund (FEFC) or by an individual. What is not allowed: a legal entity financing electoral campaigns.
Thus, the Election Law establishes the following:
"Article 16-C. The Special Campaign Financing Fund (FEFC) is constituted by budgetary allocations from the Union in an election year, in an amount at least equivalent to:"
I – as defined by the Superior Electoral Court for each election, based on the parameters defined by law;
II – the percentage of the total amount of resources from the specific reserve allocated to programs resulting from mandatory state caucus amendments, which will be included in the annual budget bill.”
In general, the law also addresses the Collection and Use of Funds in Election Campaigns, limiting the percentage of donations from individuals, since legal entities are prohibited from financing election campaigns.
Regarding the accountability process
All funds made available to political parties and their respective candidates for campaign financing must be subject to accountability.
Therefore, in addition to establishing a spending limit for candidates, the law requires that the accounting report include bank account statements showing the movement of financial resources used in the campaign and a list of checks received, indicating their respective numbers, values, and issuers.
Therefore, the law aims to safeguard the transparency of election campaigns, preventing the money from being used to finance illegal practices by the candidate.
From Election Propaganda
Finally, election propaganda is one of the most important resources used by candidates in the election campaign.
Ultimately, it is through this tool that political parties and their candidates publicize their proposals to voters in order to win votes.
Indeed, the exercise of electoral campaigning is free, provided it is carried out in accordance with Law 9.504/97 , which regulates this exercise in order to prevent economic abuses and unfair competition.
Furthermore, the Election Law establishes that election campaigns will only be permitted after August 15th of the current election year, prohibiting any type of paid advertising through media outlets such as radio or television.
2020 Elections: What has changed in practice?
The 2020 elections had some changes introduced by Constitutional Amendment No. 107/2020.
Due to the pandemic, the Constitutional Amendment altered some dates stipulated by the Election Law.
Some procedures, such as the holding of elections, party conventions, candidate registration, and electoral campaigning, have also had their schedules altered; see below:
Holding of elections
Firstly, the election date was postponed, and exceptionally in 2020, it took place on November 15th (first round) and November 29th (second round).
Party conventions
Law 9.504/97 establishes that conventions should be held from July 20th to August 05th. However, after the Constitutional Amendment, the deadline became August 31st to September 16th.
Application Registration
Article 11 of the Election Law establishes that parties must request the registration of their candidates with the Electoral Court by 7:00 PM on August 15th. However, with the amendment, the deadline has been extended to September 26th.
Electoral propaganda
Article 36 stipulates that election advertisements should not be broadcast before August 15th of that election year, but in 2020 this deadline was changed to September 20th.
Conclusion
In summary, Electoral Law has a large body of laws regulating election procedures in Brazil, including the Election Law No. 9.504/97.
However, in practice, the dynamics of the 2020 elections were completely altered by Constitutional Amendment No. 107/2020, as the electoral calendar was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, there were no changes to the articles of the election law, since the modifications were exceptionally applied in the year 2020.
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