Brazil court votes to bar former PM Jair Bolsonaro from elections until 2030

The decision, once voting of all judges concludes, will forbid Bolsonaro from running until 2030, upending the 68-year-old’s political future and likely erasing any chance for him to regain power.

Four of the seven judges on the nation’s highest electoral court agreed that Bolsonaro abused his authority by using government communication channels to promote his campaign and sowing doubts about the vote.

“This decision will end Bolsonaro’s chances of being president again, and he knows it,” said Carlos Melo, a political-science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo. “After this, he will try to stay out of jail, elect some of his allies to keep his political capital, but it is very unlikely he will ever return to the presidency.”

The case focused on a July 18, 2022, meeting where Bolsonaro used government staff, the state television channel and the presidential palace in Brasilia to tell foreign ambassadors that the country’s electronic voting system was rigged.

“Bolsonaro abused the powers of his office by calling the meeting: check. He used government staffers and buildings with an electoral objective: check. And he mixed the country’s interests with those of his campaign: check,” said Márlon Reis, an electoral law expert who helped draft the ineligibility provisions.

Bolsonaro will be able to appeal to the Supreme Court. He also faces other legal troubles, including criminal investigations.