The Superior Court of Justice (STJ) rejected a popular action against former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) related to his statements on the electronic ballot boxes. The action was filed by a citizen who sought justice to recognize that Bolsonaro made false statements about the Brazilian electoral system.
The focus of the action was in statements made by Bolsonaro on March 9, 2020, during an official trip to Miami, United States. At the time, the former president claimed that there would have been fraud in the 2018 elections, when he was elected in the second round, and promised to present evidence that he would have won the election in the first round. However,.
The STJ understood that the case does not fit the conditions provided for popular actions, which must be moved in situations involving administrative acts with concrete effects and harmful potential.
The rapporteur of the case, Minister Gurgel de Faria, argued that while Bolsonaro’s statements were questionable and needed evidence, they do not constitute administrative acts and therefore cannot be evaluated in popular action.
The minister stressed that Bolsonaro’s statements are opinions made in a political context, which, he said, puts them out of reach of the protection offered by popular action. “There is no legal materiality” in the statements made by the former president, the rapporteur said.
