The minister of the (Supreme Federal Court) voted to overturn the changes made by the Clean Record Law and restore the original text, which provided for a longer period of ineligibility.
The project approved by in September 2025 provides for ineligibility for eight years from the date of conviction. However, the minister understands that the previous wording should return to effect, in which the eight years only start counting from the end of the sentence.
Cármen, rapporteur of the action, states that the changes made by Congress “establish a scenario of patent regression to what had been established as an instrument to guarantee republican principles, administrative probity and public morality”.
The case is judged in the STF in a virtual plenary session, in which votes are cast in writing. The other ministers have not yet commented. The session runs until May 29, but can be interrupted if there is a request to view or be highlighted for the in-person plenary.
For the minister, the STF is committed to removing “any behavior and acts that impede, hinder or tarnish administrative probity and public morality”. According to her, the changes are “incompatible with the democratic and republican constitutional model”.
Cármen states that the changes to the Clean Record Law can “disempower voters from safeguarding the fairness of the candidacies presented” and mean possible “impunity or amnesty”, capable of compromising the integrity of the electoral process.
The NGO Transparency International released a statement with . According to the organization, the text represents a setback for efforts to combat corruption and prevent the infiltration of organized crime in Brazilian elections.
