PSOL hires external agency for racial assessments of candidates

The Brazilian Socialist Party (PSOL) is outsourcing the assessment of racial self-declarations for its candidates to an external agency. The party has contracted the Instituto Quilombação, founded in August 2024, to conduct these evaluations. This move is intended to prevent potential manipulation of self-declarations, a critical issue given electoral laws requiring 30% of electoral and party funds to be allocated to Black and brown candidates.

According to Dennis de Oliveira, director of Instituto Quilombação, the institute's role is not to validate self-declarations outright. Instead, the external team will investigate cases prompted by internal party complaints. They will review arguments and summon involved parties for hearings, functioning as a technical consultancy to ensure fairness in the distribution of electoral funds and the implementation of quotas.

The PSOL stated that its internal policies also prioritize candidacies from women, Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ+, and disabled individuals. The party emphasizes that Black candidates, for instance, receive a proportionally higher allocation of funds, up to 15% more than white candidates within the same priority bracket. The specific cost of this external contract was not disclosed by the party.