Brazil’s electoral authorities intensified, ahead of October’s general election, checks intended to keep candidates with alleged organised-crime links off the ballot. A Reuters report dated 22 September describes the effort as unprecedented in Latin American politics — and as a test of due process.

Brazilian law typically requires an appellate conviction to bar a candidacy (the Ficha Limpa law). Reuters reviewed 20 exclusion rulings in this wave: none had such a conviction. Prosecutors rely on a 2024 Superior Electoral Court (TSE) precedent that allows challenges based on evidence of a link, citing the constitutional article that bars parties from using paramilitary groups.

Claudio de Mello Tavares, of Rio de Janeiro’s electoral court, said organised crime “cannot find in the ballot box a path to institutionalize the power it conquered through weapons”. Rio is the most visible focus of the debate. Some polling stations in gang-controlled areas have been moved for safety.

Among those targeted, Reuters mentions relatives of Red Command leaders, a candidate charged in murder cases and a man convicted — with an appeal still open — of illegal firearms possession. At least five people being challenged had no known links to armed groups. Candidate Clebio Lopes Jacare, whose registration was challenged, said interference in the vote “leads to a dictatorship” and demanded facts, not guesswork. He is not treated as convicted in this article.

Suspicion is not guilt. Candidates barred by regional courts can appeal. Legal experts consulted by Reuters called both for a response to infiltration and for the right of defence; some said Congress should amend the law rather than leaving the expansion to interpretation alone.

The source is the Reuters dispatch of 22 September. This account does not treat a challenge as a final conviction and does not announce the October election result.

Image: Tribunal Superior Eleitoral, Brazilian UE2020 electronic ballot box, public domain, Wikimedia Commons. Not a 2026 polling station.

Source consulted: As gangs gain influence, Brazil seeks to shield election from candidates with criminal ties — Reuters.