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Brazil's TSE Annuls Garotinho's Votes, Clearing Rio Governor Race for Ruas
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In brief
Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) voted 5-2 on October 8, 2026, to annul the votes cast for Anthony Garotinho in the Rio de Janeiro governor race, citing his suspended political rights. ConJur put the number of annulled votes at 274,331, while Tribuna do Sertão cited 274,411. The recalculation lifted PL candidate Douglas Ruas's share of valid votes to roughly 51%, positioning him to be declared the winner without a runoff against Eduardo Paes, according to Tribuna do Sertão.
Brazil's Superior Electoral Court, known as the TSE, voted 5-2 on October 8, 2026, to annul the votes cast for Anthony Garotinho in the Rio de Janeiro governor's race, according to the legal news outlet ConJur and the regional outlet Tribuna do Sertão. The decision removes more than 274,000 votes from the first-round tally and raises the share held by PL candidate Douglas Ruas above the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff.
What the court decided
ConJur and Tribuna do Sertão both reported that the TSE voted 5-2 to reject Garotinho's appeal and uphold his ineligibility. Tribuna do Sertão named four ministers who voted with the majority: rapporteur Floriano de Azevedo Marques, André Mendonça, Estela Aranha and Dias Toffoli. Neither source identified the remaining majority vote or the two dissenting ministers.
Garotinho had been barred from running by the Rio Regional Electoral Court because of an earlier conviction for administrative misconduct that, according to Tribuna do Sertão, involved damage to public funds and illicit enrichment of third parties, resulting in a suspension of his political rights. Despite that bar, he campaigned through election day and appeared on ballots.
After the vote count was known, Garotinho's defense asked on October 5 to withdraw his pending appeal, a move that would have let his votes stand in the official tally even though he was ineligible, ConJur and Tribuna do Sertão reported. The TSE went ahead with its ruling despite that withdrawal request. Minister Dias Toffoli argued, according to Tribuna do Sertão, that a candidate lacking eligibility has no legal standing to have his votes counted, describing that standing as nonexistent rather than merely void.
New vote count and what it means for the race
Before the ruling, Ruas led with 49.27% of valid votes (about 4.27 million), followed by PSD candidate Eduardo Paes with 42.76% (about 3.71 million), and Garotinho in third place with 3.17%, ConJur and Tribuna do Sertão reported with matching figures. With Garotinho's votes stripped from the valid-vote base, Tribuna do Sertão reported Ruas's share rising to approximately 51% — enough, if confirmed, to be declared the winner outright in the first round without a runoff.
| Candidate | Party | Votes before ruling | Share before ruling | Share after annulment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Douglas Ruas | PL | ≈4.27 million | 49.27% | ≈51% |
| Eduardo Paes | PSD | ≈3.71 million | 42.76% | Not stated by sources reviewed |
| Anthony Garotinho | — | ≈274,400 (annulled) | 3.17% | 0% (votes voided) |
Sources reviewed differ slightly on the exact number of annulled votes: ConJur put the figure at 274,331, while Tribuna do Sertão cited 274,411. The discrepancy did not change the overall conclusion reported by both outlets that Ruas's recalculated share cleared the 50% mark needed to avoid a runoff.
Why Rio is holding this election now
The 2026 Rio de Janeiro governor's race is a special election. According to the English-language Wikipedia summary of the contest, it was triggered after Governor Cláudio Castro resigned on March 23, 2026, amid a separate TSE case; the court convicted Castro and then-Vice Governor Thiago Pampolha the following day, by a 5-2 vote, on charges related to the 2022 campaign, and imposed an eight-year ban from public office on both, contributing to the vacancy that led to this race.
What happens next
ConJur reported that the Rio Regional Electoral Court must now carry out a new official tally, known in Brazil as a retotalização, reflecting the annulled votes before Ruas's first-round victory can be formally confirmed. The sources reviewed for this article did not detail any further appeal route beyond that recount.
Questions
- What did Brazil's electoral court decide about Garotinho's votes?
- The TSE voted 5-2 on October 8, 2026, to annul the votes cast for Anthony Garotinho in the Rio de Janeiro governor's race — 274,331 according to ConJur, 274,411 according to Tribuna do Sertão — ruling that his suspended political rights made those votes ineligible to count.
- Does the ruling make Douglas Ruas the governor-elect automatically?
- The recalculation put Ruas's share at roughly 51% of valid votes, according to Tribuna do Sertão, enough to avoid a runoff, but ConJur reported that the Rio Regional Electoral Court still has to carry out an official retotalização, or recount, before the first-round result is formally confirmed.
- Why was Anthony Garotinho ruled ineligible?
- Tribuna do Sertão reported that Garotinho had been convicted of administrative misconduct involving damage to public funds and illicit enrichment of third parties, which led to a suspension of his political rights; the sources reviewed did not specify the length of that suspension.
- Why is Rio de Janeiro holding a special governor election in 2026?
- According to the Wikipedia summary of the race, the election became necessary after Governor Cláudio Castro resigned on March 23, 2026, during a TSE case, and the court then convicted Castro and his vice governor the next day, banning both from office for eight years.
- Did Garotinho try to stop the ruling?
- ConJur and Tribuna do Sertão reported that Garotinho's defense sought, on October 5, to withdraw his pending appeal after the vote count was known, which would have let his votes count despite his ineligibility; the TSE went ahead with its ruling anyway.
How the world is telling it
- PortugueseThe Brazilian outlets reviewed, ConJur and Tribuna do Sertão, framed the ruling primarily as a technical-legal dispute over ballot validity and vote retotalization, focusing on the ministers' legal reasoning about ineligibility rather than on the political rivalry between the candidates.
Sources
- ConJur — TSE anula votos a Garotinho, e Ruas pode vencer eleição do Rio
- Enfoco — TSE anula votos de Garotinho e pode eleger Ruas no 1º turno
- Tribuna do Sertão — TSE forma maioria para anular votos de Garotinho e abre caminho para vitória de Ruas no 1º turno
- Wikipedia — 2026 Rio de Janeiro gubernatorial special election
This piece was prepared with artificial intelligence and passed an automated source check before publication. If you see an error, ask for a correction. Request a correction or reply · How we make this
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