About to receive almost R$5 billion to invest in campaigns, political parties recorded more expenses than they collected in recent election years, when their coffers were filled with similar amounts. Survey of Globo in the captions’ balance sheets it shows that, in 2024, 19 of the 29 parties that participated in municipal disputes closed the year with a negative balance between expenses and revenues.
In 2022, when there were general elections like next October, the number was even higher, with 24 of them disbursing more than they received in the period. Party leaders claim that they accumulate resources in years without elections precisely to cover the costs of electing candidates.
In practice, the strategy is to pool the funds received when there is no race at the polls to be able to spend more than what the party receives in the division of the Electoral Fund, funds intended for campaign expenses. The tactic does not represent an irregularity in itself, but the accounts are evaluated annually by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), which verifies whether all expenses were justified.
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The PL, for example, declared to the Court that it had closed 2022, when it tried to re-elect Jair Bolsonaro to the Presidency, with a R$78.7 million deficit for the year, the largest among all parties. The following year, in 2023, when there was no election, the party compensated for part of the losses, and reported a surplus of R$54.6 million. Then, however, it returned to a negative balance in 2024, of R$22.6 million. Last year’s accounts have not yet been delivered. The deadline expires in June. When contacted, the party did not comment on the values.
Campaign spending
The same happened with the PSDB, which spent R$12.6 million more than it raised in 2024, and R$1.6 million in 2022. In the meantime, the party ended 2023 with a positive balance, but only R$26 thousand. The caption was also contacted, but did not respond.
In the case of the PT, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s party also recorded more expenses than revenues in 2022 (R$5.1 million) and 2024 (R$2.1 million), but had a higher surplus, of R$10.3 million, in 2023, when there was no election. In a note, the party states that “there was no financial loss” and that the negative balance in these years “are accounting variations linked to the Electoral Fund”.
The Electoral Fund, or Fundão, is divided between the parties every two years and must be allocated exclusively to campaign expenses. In both 2022 and 2024, the amount distributed was R$4.9 billion, the same expected for this year. In addition, the acronyms receive annually the Party Fund, used to maintain activities, such as administrative structure and daily operations. In 2025, transfers broke a record, with R$1.1 billion.
Executive director of the NGO Transparência Brasil, which monitors public spending, Juliana Sakai points out that the problem is not the negative result of the accounts, but the absence of clear limits for electoral spending. She criticizes the high amounts spent to finance candidacies:
— What is worrying is that these costs have been increasing year after year, without a clear limit. If there is no ceiling for this, allowing each party to be able to secure more funds, it is something that has no end.
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For political scientist Marcela Machado, professor at the Brazilian Institute of Education, Development and Research (IDP), the rules for dividing the fund, which favor parties with better electoral performance, are behind the logic of party leaders to save to spend when going to the polls.
— In many cases, the deficit works as a type of investment, aimed at expanding benches and improving electoral performance, which can guarantee more resources in the future — he explains.
President of Solidariedade, deputy Paulinho da Força (SP) states that parties follow a different logic than companies, and that extra spending in election years does not necessarily mean a financial imbalance.
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— What is the money from the electoral fund for? To campaign. It’s not about getting rich — he explains.
