TSE inspector general admits Novo party's lawsuit against the Lula-Alckmin ticket
The party alleges abuse of political power in the government's creation or expansion of benefits in 2026; the president and vice president have five days to file a defense
Translated from the Portuguese original by the Panorama newsroom. Read in Portuguese
Summary written by the Panorama newsroom from the sources listed below. Facts are attributed to the original publications.
The inspector general of Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Justice Ricardo Villas Bôas Cueva, ruled that the lawsuit filed by the Novo party against the ticket of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers' Party, PT) and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin (Brazilian Socialist Party, PSB) meets the legal requirements to proceed, g1 reported. The party alleges abuse of political power in the elections.
Under the decision, Lula and Alckmin will be notified and will have five days to file a defense. After that, Cueva will decide whether to close the case or continue the investigation; if it proceeds, witnesses may be heard and evidence gathered to assess whether there was abuse of political power.
In the lawsuit, Novo argues that the government issued 35 regulatory acts, including provisional measures and decrees, between January 1 and October 16, 2026, creating or expanding benefits such as the increase in the Bolsa Família cash-transfer program. In Novo's view, the benefits were used to give the ticket an electoral advantage. According to the party, the measures had an estimated impact of R$73 billion, and the number of acts equals the total issued in the three previous years: 17 in 2023, four in 2024 and 14 in 2025.
The inspector general also admitted a lawsuit by Flávio Bolsonaro (Liberal Party, PL), the defeated candidate, alleging abuse of political power through the use of the public communications structure in favor of Lula's reelection. According to g1, 13 other lawsuits challenging the winning ticket had already been filed with the inspector general's office.
This type of case, known as an electoral judicial investigation action (Aije), can result in the annulment of a mandate and ineligibility, but it usually takes a long time because it involves a lengthier evidence-gathering stage. The report does not include any statement from the ticket's defense on the decision.