Mato Grosso Electoral Court denies Janaina Riva equal advertising time

The Regional Electoral Court of Mato Grosso (TRE-MT) has denied an urgent request by Senate candidate Janaina Riva (MDB) to ensure an equal 50/50 split of free electoral radio and television advertising time within the ‘Coração da Gente’ coalition.

The current distribution allocates approximately 60% of the time to federal deputy José Medeiros (PL) and 40% to Riva. Specifically, Medeiros is assigned 1 minute and 12.64 seconds, while Riva is assigned 49.78 seconds. This disparity stems from a decision by the PL State Executive Commission, which stipulated that the party’s allotted time be dedicated exclusively to its indicated candidate, leaving only the remaining time for equal division.

Riva’s legal defense argued that this disproportion violates constitutional principles of gender equality and norms intended to protect female political participation. The defense maintained that since there are only two Senate candidates in the coalition—one male and one female—the time should be divided equally. While the presiding judge, Eduardo Calmon de Almeida Cézar, acknowledged the legal relevance of the argument regarding gender parity, the injunction to change the distribution was denied.