The (Superior Electoral Court) will enter in 2026, with judgments still pending from the 2022 elections. In recent months, the court has maintained an empty docket, with few prominent cases, and has left cases with a potential impact on next year unresolved.
There are open actions against two governors and at least two parliamentarians, in addition to consultations on electoral rules that have not yet been analyzed. The uncertainty may have effects on the candidates’ strategies and the formation of platforms in the states involved.
The governors (), of Rio de Janeiro, and Antônio Denarium (PP), of Roraima, senator Jorge Seif (PL-SC) and deputy Maurício Marcon (Podemos-RS) face impeachment proceedings in court.
There are also other discussions to be completed, such as accusations. At the end of December, the court returned to debate whether this infraction invalidates the vote for the entire list of candidates, including the women elected. The analysis was interrupted by a request for a view.
Public hearings to discuss campaign rules were also postponed on the eve of the next elections. These standards must be approved by March of the election year. The resolutions on the 2022 and 2018 general elections, for example, were made the previous November.
The minister presides over the court until August 2026, when she will be succeeded by .
Historically, around the middle of election years, the TSE begins to act in response to the elections. At these moments, the court usually reduces the temperature and avoids more noisy cases to protect itself from accusations of interference in the electoral process, manipulation or incitement to polarization.
Advisors and lawyers who follow the court’s routine say they observed a recent change in the pattern of plenary sessions, under Cármen Lúcia’s administration.
Normally, when the reporting minister’s analysis of a case was completed, the process was sent to the plenary office and scheduled for the following session.
During the presidency of Cármen Lúcia, however, the agenda began to be selected. Unlike the (Federal Supreme Court), the TSE does not have a high volume of backlogged cases. Thus, even though the definition of the agenda is the president’s prerogative, it was not the electoral court’s practice to have a selection of actions for each session.
At the end of the first half of 2025, Cármen took stock and highlighted that the court had a higher rate of judgments than in previous election years, which was also done through the virtual plenary.
Large cases, however, have not yet been concluded. Politicians remain in office pending the analysis of the last instance of the .
Castro’s began to be assessed at the beginning of November, days after the operation in the Penha and Alemão complexes. The action had been released in June.
At the time, Isabel Gallotti, then electoral inspector, voted for the governor for abuse of political and economic power in 2022.
Afterwards, Minister Antonio Carlos asked for a review — more time for analysis —, suspending the deliberations. The judge asked for an extension, but behind the scenes, the expectation is that he will release the case at the beginning of February.
Denarium and his vice-president, Edison Damião (), have two votes for impeachment. The trial began in August and had two requests for review, from André Mendonça and Kassio.
Jorge Seif’s trial began in April 2024, but he has not yet resumed the analysis of the action regarding abuse of economic power in the 2022 campaign.
The TSE’s request for more information on the process postponed the conclusion of the case at a time when the court was under pressure not to increase tension with the Senate.
Part of the Congress leadership worked to acquit Bolsonaro. The movement involved Bolsonaro’s allies and parliamentarians not aligned with him under the understanding that the impeachment of a senator would be traumatic — and could.
The action against deputy Marcon entered the agenda on December 11, had two votes for the loss of his mandate and was suspended due to a request for review.
Cases involving the former president will also continue until next year, without a definition.
Bolsonaro has already been declared ineligible by the TSE until 2030 in two actions, regarding meetings with ambassadors and abuse of power on the 7th of September, and remained due to conviction in the STF.
There are other actions that include important actors from Bolsonarism, such as one about attacks on the electoral process and the dissemination of fake news. This targets, in addition to Bolsonaro and the then candidate for vice president, parliamentarians from PL (RJ), (SP), (SP), Bia Kicis (DF), (MG), Gustavo Gayer (GO) and Magno Malta (ES).
The coalition led by the PT in 2022 has a list of actions that have not yet been judged. There is, for example, a process about the Bolsonaro government’s call, including an increase in Auxílio Brasil at the end of the mandate, one about undemocratic acts and another about the use of the Alvorada and Planalto palaces for electoral campaign events.
