Voter registration of naturalized immigrants: guidelines for service protocol from a human rights perspective

Abstract

Brazil has been a destination for various migratory flows, currently highlighting immigrants from countries such as Haiti, Bolivia, and Venezuela. These migratory flows present challenges for the Brazilian Electoral Justice concerning the registration of naturalized foreigners as voters. Although legislation allows naturalized Brazilians to exercise political rights, there is a gap in TSE Resolution No. 23.659/2021 regarding the electoral registration process for these citizens. The general objective of the research was to analyze whether the Brazilian Electoral Justice has a service protocol for naturalized immigrants. The specific objectives were to describe the current migratory flows in Brazil; elucidate the influence of immigration on the Electoral Justice; analyze the relevance of normative changes arising from the enactment of Law No. 13.445/2017 (Migration Law) (Brazil, 2017); and contextualize political rights from the perspective of Human Rights. The research is qualitative of a descriptive-exploratory nature, employing bibliographic, documentary, and data surveys obtained through access to the websites of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), “Operação Acolhida”, among others. In the final considerations, it was found that the Electoral Justice does not have a service protocol for naturalized brazilians, and its creation is suggested. Furthermore, it is suggested that the Superior Electoral Court’s website, which presents the requirements for electoral registration, be translated into English, Spanish, and French, and that the Regional Electoral Courts be questioned about the existence of a service protocol for naturalized brazilians.