A total of 827 election candidates across Brazil still face an uncertain legal status just one week before polls open, according to official court data.
Figures released by the Superior Electoral Court, known as the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral or TSE, show that 20,987 candidate registrations were submitted for the upcoming vote. Judges have already assessed 20,160 of those applications, granting approval to more than 90 percent of contenders.
The unresolved cases involve candidates whose registrations are still awaiting an initial hearing, alongside disputes already examined by regional electoral courts where decisions were challenged through appeals that the TSE has yet to settle.
Under Brazilian electoral rules, candidates who reach election day without a final ruling are permitted to contest the ballot under a provisional status called sub judice.
Politicians running under this condition retain access to public campaign funds, appear on the country's electronic voting machines, and can collect votes from the public. If the electoral judiciary ultimately rejects their registration at the conclusion of legal proceedings, however, all votes cast for them are declared null and void.
Presidential race and Pablo Marcal disqualification
Judges have completed reviews for nearly the entire presidential field. The sole candidacy rejected outright is that of businessman Pablo Marçal, representing the Brazilian Labour Renewal Party, or PRTB.
Electoral authorities barred Marçal from the ballot after finding him ineligible due to a conviction connected to municipal elections in 2024. According to court records, the entrepreneur orchestrated the mass distribution of short video clips on social media platforms by promising cash prizes to content creators who generated the highest view counts.
The electoral justice system ruled that the cash incentive scheme constituted an improper use of social communications media, an abuse of economic power, and the illegal collection and spending of campaign resources.
Following the disqualification of Marçal, the PRTB chose Leonardo Avalanche to replace him in the presidential contest. Avalanche's registration is currently the only presidential application that remains unresolved before the high court.
Pending races for Congress and state governorships
Dozens of legislative and executive races across the country remain clouded by pending court challenges. In the lower house of the National Congress, 331 candidates seeking seats as federal deputies are still waiting for a definitive judgment on their paperwork.
The upper house faces similar uncertainty, with 35 candidates for the Federal Senate running without confirmed registrations. In the races to lead Brazil's 26 states and federal district, 22 candidates for governor remain in legal limbo.
Gubernatorial challenges in Amapa and Rio de Janeiro
Among the disputed gubernatorial bids is that of Dr. Furlan, who is campaigning for governor of the northern state of Amapá. The TSE halted its trial on his candidacy last week after Justice André Mendonça requested a formal review of the case file, pausing proceedings.
Furlan was the target of a Federal Police operation while serving as mayor of Macapá, the state capital of Amapá, and later resigned from office to launch his gubernatorial campaign. The Electoral Public Ministry maintains that Furlan stepped down specifically to dodge legal proceedings that could have triggered his political ineligibility, arguing that the court must bar him from running.
In southeastern Brazil, former governor Anthony Garotinho is also attempting to secure a place on the ballot in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The Regional Electoral Court of Rio de Janeiro, known as the TRE-RJ, rejected Garotinho's registration earlier this month.
The regional court ruled that Garotinho is ineligible under administrative misconduct convictions that involved financial harm to public funds and the unlawful enrichment of third parties.
Garotinho has filed an appeal directly within the TRE-RJ, where the petition is still awaiting a hearing. Because that appeal is pending, his disqualification is not yet final and could still be overturned. If the regional judges uphold the ban, Garotinho retains the right to lodge a further appeal with the Superior Electoral Court in Brasília.
