The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) has once again begun publishing candidates’ CPF numbers in the voter databases, following two years of advocacy by Transparência Brasil (TB) and other organizations. The data is now available in the candidate information that the Electoral Court began releasing this week. 

The decision to withhold CPF numbers stemmed from Resolution No. 23,729/2024, issued by the TSE in February 2024 on the grounds that it was necessary to comply with the General Data Protection Law (LGPD). The resolution contradicted the court’s previous interpretation and concealed the numbers not only for that year’s candidates but also in the archives of previous elections.

Disclosing the CPF number makes it possible to distinguish between candidates with the same name and to cross-reference candidate data with other databases. Without the number, it becomes more difficult for civil society and the press to identify discrepancies in asset declarations, “straw” candidacies, criminal convictions, and campaign donations among candidates, among other issues.

In August 2024, TB and the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji), representing the Forum for the Right of Access to Public Information, discussed the reinstatement of the CPF in a meeting with the then-president of the TSE, Cármen Lúcia. At the time, the minister committed to seeking a partial solution, but the data remained hidden.

On Jan. 8, 2026, TB and eight other organizations — Grupo Mapinguari (Federal University of Rondônia), Abraji, Open Knowledge Brasil, Associação Fiquem Sabendo, Amazônia Real, Base dos Dados, Article 19, and Transparency International – Brazil — sent a new letter to the TSE. The document reinforced the arguments that the CPF is a fundamental piece of registration data for social oversight.

Eleven days later, on Jan. 19, 2026, the then-vice president of the TSE, Nunes Marques, opened a public consultation on a draft resolution regarding the registration of candidates that already removed the CPF from the list of confidential data. The proposal was discussed at public hearings between Feb. 3, 2026, and Feb. 5, 2026—in which Transparência Brasil participated—and subsequently approved by the court. 

On Apr. 8, 2026, TB met again with the TSE president to discuss the implementation of the TSE’s Open Data Users Council and the reinstatement of the CPF.

The electoral data released this week already includes the CPF. For TB, the TSE’s new interpretation recognizes that the CPF is registration data that must be disclosed—the same interpretation already applied to other candidate information, such as asset declarations. For the organization, the change strengthens public oversight of candidacies and reinforces trust in the Electoral Court.