Brazil elections may shape Jair Bolsonaro amnesty bid

Brazilian voters will choose lawmakers and governors on October 4 alongside the presidential race, with the results set to shape the next president's ability to govern and any attempt to grant amnesty to former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Almost 160 million registered voters are due to elect state and federal deputies, senators and governors. The presidential contest is between incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, Jair Bolsonaro's son.

Brazil's Chamber of Deputies and Senate are currently dominated by conservative lawmakers. All 513 lower-house seats and two-thirds of the 81 Senate seats are on the ballot.

Flavio Bolsonaro has said that, if elected president, he would seek an amnesty for his father, who is under house arrest and was convicted of attempting a coup after his failed 2022 re-election bid. An amnesty would need approval from both houses of Congress. Flavio Bolsonaro has said he would grant his father a presidential pardon if Congress did not approve it.

Several Bolsonaro family members are also running for Congress. Jair Renan Bolsonaro is seeking a Chamber seat, while Michelle Bolsonaro and Carlos Bolsonaro are running for Senate seats.

The Senate race also matters for the Supreme Court. The chamber has received requests to remove Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw Jair Bolsonaro's coup trial, and it approves or rejects presidential nominees to the court. Flavio Bolsonaro has vowed to impeach Moraes.

Alvaro Jorge, a law professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, told AFP that several right-wing senators have made the power to remove a Supreme Court judge part of their political platform, though it has never been used.

Governorships in Brazil's 26 states and its federal district are also at stake. In Sao Paulo, Governor Tarcisio de Freitas and Lula's former finance minister Fernando Haddad are central contenders. In Rio de Janeiro state, polls predict a shift to the center-left, with Lula-backed former mayor Eduardo Paes a favorite.