The TRE-RJ confirmed on Saturday the 10th the victory of Douglas Ruas (PL) in the first round for governor, with 50.88% of the votes, after the TSE rejected, by 5 to 2, the candidacy of Anthony Garotinho and annulled his 274,411 votes. In the original count, Ruas had 49.27% and Eduardo Paes 42.76%. The re-tabulation did not recount the ballot boxes: it redid the sum without the annulled votes. Paes gave up on appealing after the STF denied a request to suspend the decision. About 30 students protested outside the TRE-RJ. Ruas, 37, a civil police officer and president of the Alerj, told RJ2 that public safety will be the priority and that he will call up those who passed civil-service exams.
It avoids a runoff in the country’s third-largest electorate and shows how a TSE decision on a candidacy can change the result after the vote.
If you live in Rio, there will be no governor runoff on October 25. In other states, the date still stands, and Monday the 12th is a holiday.
Those who defend the decision say a candidacy barred by law cannot count votes, and that the rule applies to everyone.
Critics recall that thousands of voters cast their ballots for Garotinho in good faith and that the annulment changes the result after the election.
The point to watch is whether any appeal still reaches the STF or the TSE and whether Saturday’s protest grows. Without an appeal, Rio enters the government transition two weeks before the rest of the country.
G1 · Valor · Agência Brasil · Folha · Poder360 · UOL · Diário do Nordeste · DGABC · Correio da Manhã (Oct. 9–10) · vote numbers as reported by the press
Douglas Ruas confirmed as Rio governor in the first round, with 50.88%, after the TSE annuls Garotinho’s votes
The re-tabulation by the TRE-RJ on Saturday the 10th avoids a runoff in the state. Eduardo Paes gave up on appealing, and about 30 students protested outside the court.
The Regional Electoral Court of Rio de Janeiro (TRE-RJ) confirmed on the afternoon of Saturday, October 10, the election of Douglas Ruas (PL) as governor of the state in the first round. The PL is the party of Jair Bolsonaro and of Flávio Bolsonaro, who is running for president. To win without a runoff, a candidate needs more than half of the valid votes, which do not include blank or null ballots. According to G1, the session was scheduled for 3 p.m. and lasted ten minutes, and the court’s president, appeals judge Cláudio de Mello Tavares, announced that Ruas reached 50.88% of the votes, above the half needed to win without a runoff, Agência Brasil and Valor also report. The change comes from a TSE decision made on Thursday the 8th: by 5 votes to 2, the court rejected the candidacy of former governor Anthony Garotinho (Republicanos) and annulled the 274,411 votes he received on October 4, according to coverage by Diário do Nordeste and DGABC. The rapporteur, Justice Floriano de Azevedo Marques, found that Garotinho had his political rights suspended by a conviction for improbity when he joined the party. In the original count, Ruas had 4,271,199 votes (49.27% of valid votes) and Eduardo Paes 3,706,984 (42.76%), according to Correio da Manhã. Without Garotinho’s votes, the total of valid votes falls, and Ruas’s share rises above 50%. The re-tabulation, therefore, is not a recount: the ballot-box data remain the same, and the court merely redoes the sum without the annulled votes.
Paes, who finished second and depended on a runoff to return to the race, gave up on appealing after the Supreme Federal Court (STF) denied a request to suspend the TSE decision, G1 reports. About 30 protesters, most of them students, called for a runoff outside the Palace of Democracy, seat of the TRE-RJ, according to Valor. Ruas is 37, a career civil police officer, a lawyer, a state representative and president of the Rio Legislative Assembly (Alerj), and was born in São Gonçalo, in the metropolitan region, according to G1. In an interview with RJ2, he said public safety will be the government’s priority and promised to call up, right at the start of the term, those who passed civil-service exams, G1 and Valor report. Celebrating, Ruas cited “renewal” and “change,” Poder360 reports. Also on Saturday, he took part in an evangelical event at Maracanãzinho, according to G1. The running mate on the ticket is Fernanda Louback, a former beauty queen and friend of Michelle Bolsonaro, Poder360 and UOL report; UOL recalls that Ruas is close to Cláudio Castro, who is under investigation by prosecutors. In the states where the governor runoff is maintained, voting is on October 25. Monday the 12th is the national holiday of Our Lady of Aparecida, and the B3 does not open.