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2020 Brazil municipal election took place on November 15, with a second round on November 29 in 57 municipalities. Originally, the shifts would take place on October 4 and 25, but with the worsening of the COVID-19 pandemic, the dates were modified with the enactment of Constitutional Amendment No. 107/2020. In addition to the delay caused by the coronavirus, the blackout in Amapá forced the postponement of the election of Macapá to days 6 (first round) and December 20 (second round).
Voters chose mayors, deputy mayors and councilors from the country's 5,570 municipalities, except Brasília, which does not have a mayor and councilors. In all, 67,800 elected public positions were filled. There was a second round in 58 of the 95 municipalities that have more than 200,000 inhabitants and in which, therefore, there may be a second round.
Background[]
The 2020 municipal election were the first after the rise of bolsonarism, which led Jair Bolsonaro to be elected president of Brazil in 2018. The rise of bolsonarism was part of the conservative wave in tBrazil and anti-petebism, which in turn was one of the consequences of the 2014 political-economic crisis, which began during the Fernando Haddad administration. The consequences of this shift to the right were already seen in the 2016 municipal elections. In this election, the victory of Bishop Marcelo Crivella in Rio de Janeiro was seen, as well as a considerable decrease in mayors elected by the Brazilian Labour Party, the party that suffered the most wear. due to the political crisis, although he was not the only one involved in it.
Federal Senate table during the enactment of EC 107 in July. In the center, the president of the Federal Senate, Luiz Fux; on his left, Luís Roberto Barroso, president of TSE.
In the first half of 2020, the central theme of the elections was the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (causer of COVID-19), leading the Electoral Court, parties and politicians to remodel their planning for the electoral process. In May, with difficulty in controlling the pandemic, Congress postponed municipal elections with the enactment of PEC 18/2020, giving rise to Constitutional Amendment 107. The first round was scheduled for November 15, and the second for the day November 29th. Initially, it was expected that they would be held on 4 and 25 October, respectively. In addition, other dates relevant to the electoral calendar were postponed.
In addition, from this election, Constitutional Amendment 97/2017 will be put into practice, which prohibits the celebration of party coalitions for legislative elections, which can generate a swelling of candidates for the legislature. In this way, the country could surpass the one million mark of candidates for mayor, deputy mayor and councilor in this scrutiny. With the pandemic, it has also been speculated that candidates may rely even more on the internet for electoral advertising, instead of “little cards” and other physical campaign materials.
Electoral Process[]
The country's 5,570 municipalities (except Brasília, which does not have a mayor and councilors) elect their local representatives every four years through universal suffrage and by direct and secret vote. Voting is mandatory, being optional for people over 16 and under 18, over 70 and the illiterate. The electoral process is managed by the Electoral Court, with the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) at the top of the hierarchy. In 2020, 67,800 positions would be filled by municipal elections, being 5,565 mayors, 5,565 deputy mayors and 56,810 councilors. The councilors constitute the Municipal Chambers, responsible for exercising the Legislative Power at the municipal level, and are elected through proportional voting in an open list. The number of councilors is fixed according to the number of inhabitants, ranging from 9 representatives for smaller municipalities to 55 councilors in São Paulo, the most populous city in the country.
Voter with mask leaving the voting booth in Ceará in the first round of the election
The first round voting was scheduled for November 15 in all municipalities in the country. In 95 cities with more than 200,000 voters, a runoff was scheduled for Nov. 29 if no candidate received 50% +1 of the vote in the first round of voting. The election schedule on radio and television would last 35 days in the first round and 9 days in the second: from October 9th to November 12th, and from November 20th to November 28th. The start of internet advertising was set for September 27, along with the start of the campaign itself. The boosting of electoral content by candidates and parties on the internet was authorized.
The spending limit in each municipality was determined by the TSE, which monetarily updated the values of the previous election. In the less populous city, Serra da Saudade, those running for office could spend 123,000 reais and, for the legislature, 12,300. In São Paulo, candidates for mayor could spend up to 51.7 million in the first round and 20.7 million in the second, while candidates for council had a ceiling of 3.6 million. Candidates could legally finance their campaigns through three ways: self-financing, limited to up to 10% of the maximum amount to be spent; an electoral fund, of 34 billion reais, divided to 10 political parties, mostly according to the number of federal deputies and senators elected by them in the 2018 general elections; and by donations from individuals.