Brazil's Top Court Nears Vote to Pardon Parties for Ignoring Racial Quotas

Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) is on the verge of deciding whether to forgive political parties that have not complied with racial quotas for financing candidacies in elections prior to 2022. The case, which involves a pardon for these non-compliant parties, has reached a 6-4 vote count in favor of validation, though the final outcome remains uncertain as the virtual session continues until next Friday.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the last to cast his vote, opposed the measure. He argued that a lenient approach to violating rules for funding Black candidacies undermines the constitutional principles of affirmative action. "I understand that complacent treatment of non-compliance with legal rules for the application of financial resources in Black candidacies constitutes an undue affront to the constitutional parameters invoked by the court itself in the precedents that established the validity of affirmative policies," Moraes stated.

Despite Moraes's dissenting opinion, the majority, led by rapporteur Cristiano Zanin, appears to favor the pardon. Justices Dias Toffoli, André Mendonça, Kassio Nunes Marques, Luiz Fux, and Gilmar Mendes voted with Zanin. Conversely, Flávio Dino initiated a divergence, which was then joined by Cármen Lúcia, the president Luiz Edson Fachin, and Moraes.

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I understand that complacent treatment of non-compliance with legal rules for the application of financial resources in Black candidacies constitutes an undue affront to the constitutional parameters invoked by the court itself in the precedents that established the validity of affirmative policies.

Moraes further elaborated on the importance of equal electoral opportunities, stating, "The conquest of the equality of the vote, worldwide, was essential and necessary for the combat and reduction of all forms of discrimination, but not sufficient. There is also a need for full passive electoral capacity (eligibility), allowing everyone to be candidates and, more than that, to be voted for, competing in elections on equal terms, including electoral resources."

He stressed that the principle of equality supports the constitutionality of interpreting racial quotas in resource distribution, noting that "the mapping of social indicators verified in Brazil evidences that the intergenerational perpetuation of inequality is not a mere accident, but a byproduct of a structurally unjust model in the distribution of opportunities."

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The conquest of the equality of the vote, worldwide, was essential and necessary for the combat and reduction of all forms of discrimination, but not sufficient. There is also a need for full passive electoral capacity (eligibility), allowing everyone to be candidates and, more than that, to be voted for, competing in elections on equal terms, including electoral resources.