Ministers from the Superior Electoral Court criticized the fact that Minister Dias Toffoli had determined, in an individual decision, a series of restrictions on the campaign of Renan Santos (Republicanos), a candidate for President of the Republic from the state of Amazonas. The magistrates defend that measures of this nature and magnitude should be submitted to the court's plenary, and not decided unilaterally by the reporting justice of the case.
Behind the scenes at the court, even among colleagues who support the restrictions imposed on Renan Santos, the predominant assessment is that decisions with the potential to affect a candidate's participation in the presidential race should not rest solely with the reporting minister and need to go through the collegial body's endorsement.
The pressure for the case to be taken to the plenary gained strength on Monday. A faction of the court argues that the referral is mandatory under the TSE's own internal rules. The court's internal regulations provide that provisional decisions like this one may be granted individually by the reporting justice, but the question now is whether measures of this magnitude would necessarily require validation by the collegial body.
Renan Santos's own campaign also appealed Toffoli's decision, asking that the case be released for deliberation by the court's virtual plenary. The appeal seeks to overturn the restrictions or, at the very least, ensure that any measure against the campaign is taken collectively by the TSE ministers.
