Acronym sues TRE-SP to pay a fine provided for in the Elections Law for speech in which PT member asks for votes for the pre-candidate
The PP (Progressistas) took action this Friday (May 3, 2024) against the TRE-SP (Regional Electoral Court of São Paulo) against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) for speech in which the PT member asks for votes for Guilherme Boulos (Psol-SP), federal deputy and pre-candidate for Mayor of São Paulo. Here is the full text of the action (PDF – 11 MB).
Lula’s speech took place during an event celebrating Labor Day, on May 1st. Lula and Boulos shared the stage with the union centrals at Arena Neo Química, Corinthians stadium, in the east of São Paulo. The act included money from Petrobras, a state-owned company with shares listed on the stock exchange – which could constitute an electoral crime (read more in this report).
In the document, the PP argues that Lula made an explicit request for a vote by saying the following phrase at the event: “Every person who voted for Lula, in 1989, in 1994, in 1998, in 2006, in 2010 and in 2022, has to vote for Boulos for mayor of São Paulo”.
According to the party, even though Boulos did not verbally ask for votes with “specific words”an analysis of the videos and the pre-candidate’s posture, such as gestures and having applauded his speech, “allow you to conclude by directly requesting votes”.
“Note that in this situation, in addition to the explicit request for a vote by the President of the Republic, the explicit request for a vote – even if not textual – also by the pre-candidate remains evident, insofar as there is an articulation of the person represented agreeing with the speeches by the president”it says.
Watch the moment when Lula asks Boulos for votes (2min12s):
Here is Lula’s full speech:
“I just wanted to tell you the following: this boy, this young man, he is fighting a real war here in São Paulo. He is competing against our national opponent, he is competing against our state opponent, he is competing against our municipal opponent. He is facing 3 opponents. Nobody will defeat this guy here if you vote for Boulos for mayor of São Paulo in the next elections. I’m going to make an appeal: every person who voted for Lula in 1989, in 1994, in 1996, in 2006, in 2010, in 2022, has to vote for Boulos for mayor of São Paulo.”
In the action, Progressistas asks that advance electoral propaganda is recognized and the payment of a fine provided for in article 36, §3 of the Elections Law is applied. Below is what the law says:
“§ 3 Violation of the provisions of this article will subject the person responsible for disseminating the advertisement and, when proven prior knowledge, the beneficiary to a fine in the amount of R$5,000 to R$25,000, or the equivalent of the cost of the advertisement, if this is greater.”
The 2024 electoral calendar prohibits requests for votes before the campaign period, until August 15, the date after candidates register.
According to article 3-A of Resolution 23,671/21, cited in the document filed by the PP, “advance advertising subject to a fine is considered to be advertising published out of time whose message contains an explicit request for voting, or which conveys electoral content in a closed location or through a means, form or instrument proscribed during the campaign period.”
On Thursday (May 2), TRE-SP ordered the removal of the videos with the president’s full speech from social media. Novo and MDB also took the case to the Electoral Court. The president took the content offline.
This report was written by journalism intern Bruna Aragão under the supervision of assistant editor Isadora Albernaz.
