TSE Excludes Garotinho Votes and TRE-RJ Schedules Retotalization

Excluding Anthony Garotinho’s 274,411 votes would push Douglas Ruas past the 50 percent mark and could hand him the governorship in one round.

Overview

The Tribunal Superior Eleitoral voted Thursday to uphold the denial of Anthony Garotinho’s candidacy and formally annul his 274,411 votes.
The president of the Rio de Janeiro regional electoral court set a retotalization for Saturday, Oct. 10 at 15:00 to recalculate which ballots count as valid.
The retotalization is a computerized recalculation of the valid‑vote base and does not change the vote totals recorded on the voting machines.
With Garotinho’s votes excluded from the valid‑vote denominator, Douglas Ruas would move from 49.27 percent to above 50 percent and be declared elected in the first round.
Eduardo Paes has filed an appeal at the Supreme Federal Court to preserve a runoff and the TSE’s 5–2 decision means further legal challenges could delay official proclamation.