Electoral prosecutor asks Brazil’s top court to reject Pablo Marçal’s presidential candidacy

Brazil’s Electoral Prosecutor’s Office has asked the Superior Electoral Court to reject Pablo Marçal’s registration as a presidential candidate, arguing that the businessman cannot legally run until October 2032.

The request, submitted on Saturday, says Marçal’s conviction by the Regional Electoral Court of São Paulo is enough on its own to bar his candidacy. That court found him responsible for improper use of communications media during the 2024 São Paulo mayoral election and imposed an eight-year ban from standing for office, along with a fine of 420,000 reais.

The case centers on Marçal’s so-called “clip championship,” a campaign strategy designed to encourage the production and spread of videos on social media. The São Paulo court rejected allegations involving abuse of economic power and illegal spending, but upheld the punishment for improper use of social communications media.

Marçal’s defense says the conviction can still be overturned and has emphasized that the ruling passed by four votes to three. He also asked the Superior Electoral Court for an injunction suspending the effects of the decision, but that request was denied. The prosecutor’s office said pending appeals do not remove the ineligibility, because electoral law allows the penalty to take effect after a conviction by a panel of judges.

The prosecutors also challenged Marçal’s party affiliation. They said he failed to prove that he joined the PRTB by April 4, the legal deadline set six months before the first round. His name did not appear in the electoral court’s party-affiliation system on that date. Marçal submitted a membership form dated April 4, recognized by the PRTB’s national leadership, and obtained an injunction from the Electoral Court in Santana de Parnaíba ordering that the affiliation be recorded. The Superior Electoral Court will now decide whether the registration should stand.

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It is safe and inevitable to conclude that Pablo Henrique Costa Marçal is ineligible until October 6, 2032.