A majority of judges on Brazil’s electoral court have voted to block former President Jair Bolsonaro from seeking public office for the next eight years, removing a top contender from the next presidential contest and dealing a significant blow to the country’s far-right movement.
The judges ruled that Mr. Bolsonaro had violated Brazil’s election laws when, less than three months before last year’s vote, he summoned diplomats to the presidential palace and made baseless claims that the nation’s voting systems were likely to be rigged.
By late Friday morning, four of the court’s seven judges had voted that Mr. Bolsonaro had abused his power as president when he convened the meeting with diplomats. One other judge voted that Mr. Bolsonaro had not abused his power, while two other judges were yet to vote. The ruling was expected to be made final later on Friday.
The decision would be a sharp and swift rebuke of Mr. Bolsonaro and his effort to undermine Brazil’s elections. Just six months ago, Mr. Bolsonaro was president of one of the world’s largest democracies. Now his career as a politician is in jeopardy.