Porto da Folha, in the Brazilian state of Sergipe, will not hold a supplementary election for mayor and deputy mayor on October 25, 2026. On September 10, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) overturned the removal from office of Everton Lima Góis and Franksaine de Souza Freitas, and the Sergipe Regional Electoral Court (TRE-SE) revoked the rule calling the new election. The decision keeps the ticket elected in 2024 in charge of the municipal government.
Why had a new election been scheduled?
The case arose from a lawsuit concerning abuse of the media during the 2024 municipal election campaign. TRE-SE had removed the mayor and deputy mayor from office and ordered their departure, along with a new vote.
TRE-SE Normative Resolution No. 80, approved on August 18, 2026, scheduled the supplementary election for October 25, the same date as the runoff in the general elections. That calendar applied only to the municipal offices of mayor and deputy mayor in Porto da Folha.
What did the TSE rule?
In Electoral Special Appeal No. 0600224-87.2024.6.25.0018, a majority of TSE justices overturned the removal of the winning ticket. The court acknowledged the seriousness of abusive content distributed on social networks but found insufficient evidence that the elected candidates took part in or consented to it, or that the ticket derived a direct electoral benefit.
According to the TSE, the defense argued that Everton Lima Góis and Franksaine de Souza Freitas neither participated in nor consented to the posts. Justices disagreed on the connection between the content and a potential electoral advantage.
The ruling upheld an eight-year disqualification from running for office for communicator Washington de Oliveira Santos, whom the Electoral Justice system identified as directly responsible for the abusive conduct. Reversing the ticket’s removal did not mean the court regarded those publications as lawful.
The municipal election calendar was revoked
Following the September 10 decision, TRE-SE confirmed that Everton Lima Góis and Franksaine de Souza Freitas would remain in office. Normative Resolution No. 80/2026 was revoked by Normative Resolution No. 84 of October 1, 2026, according to TRE-SE’s legislative register.
The municipal term that began in 2025 is scheduled to end on December 31, 2028. Cancelling the new vote does not constitute another election or a change in the mayor and deputy mayor.
What happens to the October 25 vote?
The supplementary municipal election has been cancelled, but that does not cancel the runoff in Brazil’s 2026 general elections. In Porto da Folha, the October 25 vote concerns the presidential contest, not the selection of a new mayor and deputy mayor.
The status described in this report was checked on October 20, 2026, against official TSE and TRE-SE pages.
