The current wave of state deputies from the (São Paulo Legislative Assembly) is the one that has missed the most on Fridays since the 2012 legislature, even before the end of the parliamentarians’ term, which ends in December 2026.
Survey carried out by Sheet shows that, from March 2023, when the deputies took office, until February 2026, Alesp canceled 20 sessions on Fridays due to lack of quorum.
The number is equivalent to 17% of working Fridays, excluding holidays and legislative recesses, which occur in the months of January and June.
When contacted by the report, the Assembly’s press office did not respond about the absences.
The previous legislature (2019-2022), in comparison, had 13% absences on Fridays. Although the amount in absolute numbers is the same (20 days), the percentage is lower because it takes into account a mandate already completed.
The quorum required to open a session on a Friday, at Alesp, is 12 of the 94 deputies. To register their presence in the House, they must sign a list that is kept in the plenary and then they can leave. In other words, it is not necessary for them to remain on site for their presence to be counted.
If the number of signatures is not enough to start the work, the deputy presiding over the session must announce the reason why it did not take place. In September 2021, former deputy Coronel Telhada (PP) announced the names of the deputies present at the session which, due to lack of quorum, was not held.
“I want to read the names of the 11 deputies who signed the list, so that everyone is present and aware”, said the parliamentarian at the time. He also asked, in a broadcast shown on TV Alesp, that voters forgive them for the episode.
“I wish everyone a great weekend, and forgive us, as there will be no ordinary session today,” he said.
The survey of Sheet shows that absences are greater in election years. In 2024, when the municipal elections were held, 26% of the sessions on Fridays were canceled due to lack of quorum – one of them was on October 25th, two days before the second round vote. In that year’s electoral dispute, 20 deputies were candidates for mayor in cities in the interior of the state, with four of them elected.
In 2025, when there was no dispute, the percentage was 15%.
In 2022, when the elections for Alesp seats took place, 22% of Fridays did not have sessions due to lack of quorum. That year, .
Visit to the bases
The minimum number of 12 deputies to start work on Fridays was defined in May 2012, after parliamentarians complained that many of them used the day of the week to carry out agendas in their electoral bases, in the interior of the state, and that, therefore, there would be fewer people available to provide a quorum for the sessions.
Therefore, the survey of Sheet was made based on data made available since May of that year.
Previously, a minimum of 24 signatures from deputies was required to start an ordinary session on Fridays. The number remains the same to open any session in the plenary on the other days of the week.
The Assembly’s internal regulations allow extraordinary sessions, when discussions and votes on projects are held, not to be scheduled on Mondays and Fridays, which empties the legislative house on those two days.
The ordinary sessions, in which deputies deal with everyday matters and present some of their proposals, take place from Monday to Friday and precede the extraordinary sessions held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
