Appointed by Bolsonaro, minister takes charge of the 2026 elections in a ceremony attended by the Three Powers; Mendonça, 53 years old, assumes vice-presidency
Minister Kassio Nunes Marques, 53 years old, took office this Tuesday (May 12, 2026) as president of the Superior Electoral Court. In a ceremony attended by the heads of the Three Powers, the minister succeeds Cármen Lúcia and will lead the 2026 general elections. André Mendonça, 53 years old, assumes the vice-presidency.
See the list of authorities who were present:
- Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) – President of the Republic;
- Davi Alcolumbre (União – AP) – president of the Senate;
- Edson Fachin – president of the Federal Supreme Court;
- Hugo Motta (Republicans – PB) – president of the Chamber of Deputies;
- Paulo Gonet – Attorney General of the Republic.
Nunes Marques’ presidency at the TSE should run until May 2027.
Profile and trajectory
With a discreet profile, Nunes Marques was by former president (PL) in October 2020, still during the covid-19 pandemic, in the vacancy opened by the retirement of minister Celso de Mello. At the time, the nominee was a 2nd degree judge of the TRF-1 (Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region), with good dialogue with politicians and ministers of the Superior Court of Justice and the Supreme Court.
One of the main organizers of his nomination was Senator (PP), who, like the minister, is from Teresina, capital of Piauí. Nogueira managed to get Nunes Marques’ name in print and, in a short time, the magistrate was endorsed by the senator and now pre-candidate for the Presidency, (PL).
Born on May 16, 1972, Nunes Marquesin a ceremony marked by restrictions on gatherings in the context of the pandemic. He assumed a reserved stance and, in the plenary, rarely disagreed with the majority position.
André Mendonça, with a conservative profile and linked to the evangelical milieu, also to the STF by Bolsonaro, in July 2021, for the vacancy opened with the by minister Marco Aurélio Mello. The choice fulfilled the former president’s promise to appoint a minister “terribly evangelical” to the Court.
Before arriving at the Supreme Court, Mendonça was the Union’s attorney general and Minister of Justice in the Bolsonaro government. Born in Santos (SP), on December 27, 1972, he has a degree in Law, a Union lawyer and a Presbyterian pastor.
His nomination faced resistance in the Senate and was stopped for more than 4 months before being approved in December 2021. He took in the STF on December 16 of that year and, in the Court, he began to adopt actions aligned with conservative and religious freedom agendas.
Working at the TSE
The minister joined the TSE in May 2023, in the vacancy opened by minister Ricardo Lewandowski. His career in court began with a delicate process: the trial of electoral crimes against the president who nominated him to the Supreme Court years before.
The Electoral Attorney General’s Office, at the time under the management of Paulo Gonet, called for Jair Bolsonaro’s ineligibility after the repercussions of a meeting called by the former president with ambassadors to talk about “possible risks of electronic voting machines”.
The Bolsonaro base expected the minister to reciprocate the nomination with action to postpone the trial, but the then president of the TSE, Alexandre de Moraes, ruled on the case. On June 30, 2023, Jair Bolsonaro. Nunes Marques voted for acquittal, being one of the 2 votes that won. The other was Raul Araújo, minister of the STJ who was part of the Electoral Court. “I do not identify conduct attributed to the former president that justifies the application of the serious sanctions provided for in the legislation”highlighted Nunes Marques at the time.
Intervention in politics
Nunes Marques’ votes in the TSE tend to follow a line of less interference from the Electoral Court in political disputes, with the defense of lighter punishments. Recently, the minister voted against condemning the former governor of Rio de Janeiro, Claudio Castro, and the president of Alerj, Rodrigo Bacellar, to ineligibility for abuse of political and economic power, as he considered that there was insufficient evidence. It was won by the majority of the court.
In a similar understanding, he sought to avoid harsher punishments for the governor of Roraima, Antonio Denarium, in impeachment proceedings. On the other hand, he voted in favor of the current president, (PT), in action regarding a supposed early campaign in the Unidos da Tijuca parade during Carnival 2026. On that occasion, he highlighted that the release of the parade “it does not mean safe conduct for something that violates our electoral legislation”.
Artificial intelligence and rules for 2026
As the presidency of the TSE rotates among STF ministers, it was already expected that Nunes Marques would lead the 2026 election. The minister was responsible for drafting the final resolutions that defined the rules for this year’s election,. The proposal focuses on defining clear limits for the use of AI in campaigns, with the aim of reducing “algorithmic interference” in the elections.
Here are the central points of the approved rules:
- Time limitation: There will be specific restrictions in the period of 72 hours before and 24 hours after election day for the circulation of synthetic or AI-altered content that modifies the voice of a candidate or public figure. The measure aims to “exclude unwanted surprises” that cannot be refuted in time.
- Platforms’ responsibility: social network providers will have “joint liability” if they do not promote the immediate removal of content that does not comply with electoral rules.
- Combating misogyny: The alteration of images of female candidates for inclusion in sexual or degrading scenes is strictly prohibited. “Digital misogyny will never be tolerated in this Specialized Court”said Minister Nunes Marques.
- Digital Compliance: A TSE standards compliance plan will be created with internet providers to speed up compliance with court orders and platforms’ self-regulation.
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