The (Superior Electoral Court) approved one, in sessions held on Monday (3) and last week.
In total, rules were voted on 12 different topics, including the electoral calendar, electoral offenses and procedures for registering candidacy and reporting on campaigns.
Among the rules are the 72 hours before voting until 24 hours after voting day, in addition to new obligations for social networks.
With each election, the electoral court updates its resolutions, in a process led by the vice-president of the court, who this year is the minister.
At the end of January, drafts of the resolutions were released, which served as the basis for sending suggestions to the court from experts, parties and civil society. After that, a court team led by the minister formulated the final versions, which have now been voted on by the plenary.
Electoral propaganda, social networks and AI
After presenting an initial proposal in January, the TSE approved a final version with several new features, such as the ban on the use of content generated or manipulated by AI in the 72 hours prior to 24 hours after voting day.
Until then, there was only a ban on the use of so-called deepfakes and mandatory identification of its use for other content.
There were also , who will need, for example, to present more reports on the measures they are taking in the context of electoral risks, called compliance plans. It should also make it easier for parties and Public Prosecutors to prosecute cases involving the use of AI, by reversing the burden of proof regarding whether or not the content was subject to manipulation.
Another important point is that chatbots will not be able to recommend votes or treat different candidates differently.
Application registration
One of the most important points of this year’s resolution on the subject is the regulation of the so-called “Request for Declaration of Eligibility”. New tool approved by Congress last year, it should work for those candidates who activate the . In public hearings, lawyers and experts pointed out gaps in the TSE’s initial proposal.
Accountability
Among other rules, it began to explicitly allow the use of public campaign financing for expenses related to the .
It determined, however, after criticism from civil society, that these expenses will not be counted towards compliance with the minimum quota of 30% of the electoral fund that must be allocated to female candidates. It was pointed out, by opening a loophole for parties to inflate spending on women.
Electoral offenses
Included among the violations of electoral rules were the prohibited use of AI. It also established that, in the case of identifying a deviation in campaign resources that should have been allocated to women, black and indigenous people, the severity setting does not depend on the amount that was no longer invested in these candidacies.
Election polls
It brings new information about the rules that must be followed by research institutes, in addition to covering the topic of popular consultations.
The text requires, for example, a formal declaration from the statistician responsible for the research, who must attest to his/her relationship with the respective institute and commit to maintaining auditable documentation, also declaring awareness of the sanctions applicable in cases of falsehood or collusion with fraudulent research.
Transportation of voters with disabilities
Establishes the Your Vote Matters program, which provides free individual transportation on election day for voters with disabilities or reduced mobility who do not have their own means of transportation. The program also includes populations from indigenous territories, remaining quilombo communities and traditional communities.
Electoral rites
Updates the rules on a series of phases of the electoral process, such as general acts organized by the Electoral Court, including preparatory acts, voting flow and counting phases, totalization until the diploma of those elected. It brings new possibilities for priority judgment of electoral registrations.
In the case of inspection and audit procedures for electronic voting machines, the integrity test with biometrics, which had already begun to be implemented in 2022, was incorporated into the text of the resolution.
