How does the vote for President of the House and Senate work?

This Wednesday, the first day of February, those parliamentarians who were elected in 2022 will be sworn in at the National Congress. There will be 513 deputies and 27 senators, in the Federal Chamber and the Federal Senate, respectively. In addition to the other 54 senators who received an eight-year term in 2018. Check out details about vote for President of the House and Senate.

Voting for presidential positions for the Senate and Chamber of Deputies

The inauguration ceremony takes place before the elections to decide the presidency of both Houses, which should start at 15:30. Voting is carried out secretly, and after due verification, the presidents for the 2023 and 2024 biennium will be announced.

In this way, check out the step-by-step of the election in their respective Houses:

Election to the Senate Presidency

The session will be conducted by the current President of the House, Rodrigo Pacheco, with the following politicians disputing the leadership of the Senate:

• Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG): President of the Senate since 2021, being seen as the strongest name in the dispute currently. Despite the dialogues with Bolsonaro during the previous government, he also got the support of the current president, Lula;
• Rogério Marinho (PL-RN): The main threat for Pacheco. Marinho was launched by the PL, the acronym with the most seats in the Senate and is supported by the Republican and PP parties for the position of president of the Senate, which he is running now;
• Eduardo Girão (Podemos-CE): In his first term as a Senator, he approached Bolsonarist agendas and ideologies last year, due to his more conservative stance. Girão has already declared his support for Marinho if the choice goes to the second round.

The election process is as follows:

• 3:00 pm: The 27 senators re-elected or elected in October will be sworn in, in addition to the remaining 54 congressmen who received an eight-year term in the 2018 elections;
• 3:30 pm: Candidates for the presidency of the House are announced and give speeches defending their reasons for the position. Voting for the presidency begins;
• 4:00 pm: The other members of the Board of Directors are chosen.

Other important factors are as follows:

• Paper voting: Congressmen must go to the bench and deposit the printed vote in the ballot box, one senator at a time;
• Order: Voting is carried out in hierarchical order by the Board, starting separately with the president, and then for vice-presidents, secretaries and alternate secretaries;
• Quorum: For voting to begin, the presence of at least 41 senators is mandatory;
• Result: The minimum number of votes is 41 for the election to end in the first round, given the absolute majority. If this does not happen, the two candidates with the most votes will compete in the second round. After the due election of the president of the House, the voting for the other positions of the Board of Directors begins.

Election for the Presidency of the Chamber

The session will be conducted by the current President of the House, Arthur Lira, with the following politicians disputing the leadership of the Chamber:

• Arthur Lira (PP-AL): It is among the most important names for Centrão. He was elected in 2021, with the support of the then president of the republic, Jair Bolsonaro. However, he has recently become close to Lula and is the favorite for the presidency of the Chamber;
• Chico Alencar (PSOL-RJ): The main alternative to Lira, Alencar is in his fifth term as a federal deputy. He argues that Lira's re-election means "a Centrão strengthened as never before, and permanent blackmail on Lula";
• Marcel Van Hattem (Novo-RS): On his way to his second term as a federal deputy, he left as a candidate the day before the election, defending itself as an “alternative to the PT government, to Bolsonarism and to the most radical leftism in the PSOL”.

The election process is as follows:

• 10:00 am: The 513 deputies re-elected or elected in October will be sworn in;
• 13:00h: Deadline for the formation of parliamentary blocks is closed;
• 2:00 pm: The leaders of the parties, the Government, the Opposition, the Majority, the Minority and the blocs meet to decide on the positions of the Board of Directors;
• 3:30 pm: The deadline for registration of candidacies for the presidency and other vacancies of the Board of Directors is closed. The order in which the candidates will appear in the electronic ballot box is drawn;
• 4:30 pm: Voting for the positions in dispute begins, under the coordination of Átila Lins (PSD-AM), the oldest deputy and with the largest number of legislatures in the House.

Other important factors are as follows:

• Electronic voting: The Chamber uses electronic voting, in which parliamentarians make their choices on a touchscreen. In total, there are 12 voting booths spread across the plenary and the Green Room so that parliamentarians can vote;
• Order: The votes are recorded all at once, following the hierarchical order of the Board: president, vice-presidents, secretaries and alternate secretaries;
• Quorum: For voting to begin, the presence of at least 257 deputies is mandatory;
• Result: The minimum number of votes is 257 for the election to end in the first round, given the absolute majority. If this does not happen, the two candidates with the most votes will compete in the second round. After the due election of the president of the House, the voting for the other positions of the Board of Directors begins.

Thus, by the end of the first day of February, we will already know the results for the presidencies of the Chamber and the Senate, as well as the composition of the respective Boards of Directors.

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