Transparência Brasil and eight other organizations sent a letter today, January 8, to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) requesting the resumption of the publication of candidates’ CPF numbers in the 2026 elections. The organizations are asking for the review and amendment of a provision included in 2024 in the Court’s Resolution No. 23,609/2019, which established the CPF as a “confidential document” and suppressed its disclosure.

According to the organizations, publishing the CPF of candidates is essential to differentiate homonyms and cross-check candidate information with other databases. Hiding this information significantly hinders the work of civil society and the press in identifying distortions in assets, “orange” candidates, people convicted by the courts and electoral donations between candidates.

The organizations argue that the CPF is a cadastral data that can be disclosed, according to the understanding of the Federal Revenue Service, the Federal Court of Auditors and the Comptroller General of the Union, among others. Within the federal executive branch, it is only partially disclosed.

The TSE started hiding CPFs on the DivulgaCandContas platform in the 2024 elections. In Aug.2024, TB and the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji), representing the Forum for the Right of Access to Public Information, defended the publicization of the data at a hearing with Minister Cármen Lúcia, who presides over the court. The minister pledged to look internally for solutions to guarantee at least partial disclosure of the data, but it was concealed during the election.

The organizations that signed the letter call for the CPF to be made public again for the 2026 elections, preferably already in the TSE’s drafts that will be submitted for public consultation on 17.jan.2026.

In addition to TB, the Mapinguari Human Rights Research and Intervention Group – Federal University of Rondônia, the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji), Open Knowledge Brasil, the Fiquem Sabendo Association, Amazônia Real, Base dos Dados, Article 19 and Transparency International – Brazil signed the letter.