Brazilian Court Rejects Free Interstate Transit for Election Runoff

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Cármen Lúcia denied a request to provide free interstate transportation for the second round of elections, keeping the benefit limited to municipal, intermunicipal, and metropolitan trips. The coalition had argued that the STF ruling mandating free public transit in urban zones on election days should also cover lines crossing state borders, including semi-urban routes between neighboring municipalities in different states. In her Friday decision, Lúcia cited the impracticality of the request so close to Sunday's runoff. The minister noted that immediate expansion would require minimum data, adequate execution time, and coordination with 27 Regional Electoral Courts, 26 states, the Federal District, and the National Land Transport Agency. She stated the measure would exceed the STF's original ruling, whose effects were regulated by the Superior Electoral Court to cover only urban transport modes.