After the vote recount, Douglas Ruas has 50.88% of the votes in RJ

Rio de Janeiro gubernatorial candidate Douglas Ruas (PL) received 50.88% of the votes in the first round of the elections, after a retotalization carried out by the Regional Electoral Court of Rio de Janeiro (TRE-RJ) this Saturday (10). The number exceeds the 50% of votes needed for the election of the head of the Executive in the first round. "The most voted candidate for the office of governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro was candidate Douglas Ruas, obtaining more than half of the valid votes, enough to win in the first round of the elections," indicated appellate judge Cláudio Mello Tavares, president of the TRE-RJ. In second place was Eduardo Paes (PSD), with 44.16% of the votes. The calculation was made after a ruling by the Electoral Court determined invalid the 274,411 votes obtained by candidate Anthony Garotinho (Republicanos), who had 3.71%. Deadline Before announcing the result, Tavares informed that, with the retotalization, there will be a three-day period for the result to be published. After that period, there will be two days for the filing of any appeals. Once this period has been completed, a plenary session of the Court will be scheduled to analyze and rule on any challenges. The TRE-RJ appellate judge announced that, once the appeal stages are completed, the session announcing Douglas Ruas as governor will be held on October 15 at 3 p.m. at the TRE-RJ. As runner-up, Eduardo Paes announced that he is withdrawing from the race. The candidate said in a statement this Friday (9) that although the majority of Rio de Janeiro voters voted for the election for governor of Rio de Janeiro to be decided in a second round, the court's decision must be respected. Same votes The president of the TRE-RJ stated that the votes are the same ones that were counted in the first-round result. "There are no new votes. The votes are exactly the same ones that the people of Rio de Janeiro deposited in the ballot boxes on October 4. What changes is the basis of calculation," he pointed out. The appellate judge informed that the preparations and electoral campaigning for the second round for the office of governor of Rio remain suspended while the Court's plenary does not proclaim the name of Douglas Ruas, which can only occur after the deadline for the analysis of any appeals. Background The retotalization of the votes for governor of Rio de Janeiro was necessary after the TSE declared null the 274,411 votes received by Anthony Garotinho in the first round of the elections. With the exclusion of these votes from the total of valid votes, the Electoral Court had to recalculate the percentages obtained by the candidates. Garotinho ran sub judice, that is, with his electoral status still pending a judicial decision. The TRE-RJ had considered the candidate ineligible due to a conviction for administrative improbity. While appealing the decision, he obtained the right to run in the election and appear on the ballot. On Friday (2), before the voting, Minister Floriano de Azevedo Marques, the case's rapporteur at the TSE, decided that the votes received by Garotinho should be recorded as annulled sub judice. On Sunday, the day of the election, however, Minister Nunes Marques determined that those votes be counted as valid until the appeal was judged. The day after the voting, Garotinho withdrew his appeal. The TSE, however, rejected the withdrawal and judged the case this Thursday (8), declaring null the votes received by the candidate. With the annulment, the percentages of the other candidates were recalculated based on the new total of valid votes. Douglas Ruas (PL), who had received 4,271,199 votes, corresponding to 49.27% of the valid votes before the exclusion of Garotinho's votes, came to exceed the 50% mark, which opens the way for his election in the first round. Eduardo Paes (PSD) had obtained 3,706,984 votes, equivalent to 42.76% of the valid total before the retotalization.