Chamber formalizes loss of mandate of deputies Paulão and Dayany Bittencourt after TSE decision

READ ALSO: Dayany Bittencourt loses her seat as federal deputy after TSE annulled Heitor Freire's votes In situations like this, the change does not mean that the deputies lost their mandate due to a conviction or a political decision by the Chamber. The loss occurs because, after reviewing the electoral result, the Court concluded that the composition of the bench should be different from that initially determined. In a note, the PT bench stated that deputy Paulão is "the victim of a judicial decision made in favor of the political and economic elites of his State within the scope of the Regional Electoral Court of Alagoas", and that he will appeal to the STF (see the full text below). In the case of Paulão, the change occurs due to the annulment of the votes of candidate João Catunda (PP), who ran for a federal deputy seat for Alagoas in the 2022 elections. ??In November last year, the Electoral Court of Alagoas decided to revoke the 24.7 thousand votes given to the PP's second deputy deputy. The understanding is that he had committed illicit vote capture by financing campaign material with money from the Maceió Health Union. With the exclusion of these votes, the Regional Electoral Court of Alagoas re-calculated the electoral quotient and the distribution of seats, which resulted in the loss of the seat occupied by the PT parliamentarian. Dayany Bittencourt's loss of mandate comes after a decision by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) that determined the annulment of the votes of substitute Heitor Freire (União Brasil-CE). According to the Court, Heitor was impeached for illegally collecting and spending resources from the Special Campaign Financing Fund (FEFC), also known as the Electoral Fund. The retotalization of votes in Ceará changed the distribution of vacancies for federal deputies and changed the composition of the Ceará bench in the Chamber. The acts were signed by the Board of the Chamber after communication from the Electoral Court and administratively formalize the changes in the composition of the House, in compliance with court decisions. Election from A to Z: Nilson Klava explains how the electoral quotient works Why does this happen? In elections for federal, state and district deputies, the system does not work solely by adding up the individual votes of each candidate. Seats are distributed using the proportional system, which takes into account the performance of parties and federations (understand more in the video above). ??For this, the Electoral Court calculates the electoral quotient, which is obtained by dividing the total valid votes by the number of available vacancies. Then, the seats are distributed according to the performance of each party and the candidates with the most votes within them. When the Electoral Court determines that certain votes be annulled — for example, because a candidate's candidacy registration was rejected or because there was some irregularity recognized in a court decision — the result of the election may change. That's what happened in these cases. Following decisions by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), votes that had previously been counted were no longer considered valid. With the withdrawal of these votes, the Electoral Court redid the election calculations, changing the electoral quotient and the distribution of seats between the parties. The retotalization of votes, therefore, is not a new election nor a physical recount of the ballot boxes. It is a new mathematical calculation made by the Electoral Court based on the votes that remain valid, to once again define which parties and candidates are entitled to the seats won at the polls. What the PT says See the full PT note on the case of deputy Paulão: "The PT Bench in the Chamber of Deputies expresses its disagreement with the decision of the Board of Directors of the House, which accepted the opinion of the Parliamentary Inspector, deputy Diego Coronel, due to the loss of the mandate of federal deputy Paulão (PT-AL). It also expresses its full solidarity with this warrior of the people of Alagoas and Brazil, our colleague Paulão, victim of a judicial decision made in favor of political and economic elites of their State within the scope of the Regional Electoral Court of Alagoas. A writ of mandamus in the Federal Supreme Court will be filed against the decision of the Board of the Chamber, in the expectation that the vote in favor of the request for the maintenance of deputy Paulão's mandate, given by minister Dias Toffoli in the plenary session of the Superior Electoral Court, will be confirmed by the majority of the Collegiate when the Judiciary returns from recess in August. and to the people of Alagoas, it will be restored promptly."