The Sao Paulo Electoral Court held a closed-door exam for
the clown turned congressman-elect on Thursday to determine if he meets a constitutional
mandate that federal lawmakers be literate.
Francisco Silva became famous as Tiririca —
"Grumpy" in Portuguese — and received about 1.3 million votes, nearly
twice as many as the next-highest vote-getter in last month's congressional
elections.
His campaign videos drew millions of viewers on the
Internet, with slogans such as "It can't get any worse" and
"What does a federal deputy do? Truly, I don't know. But vote for me and
you'll find out."
But a less humorous element emerged during the campaign:
Allegations that Silva, like 10 percent of Brazilians, is illiterate. Judge
Aloisio Silveira ruled that there were discrepancies between the handwriting on
Silva's application to run for Congress and that on the document in which he
swears he can read and write and in autographs he gave to fans.
He ordered that Silva must demonstrate that he can read
and write.
Silva has attributed the discrepancies to the fact that
his wife helped him write his application because he has trouble holding a pen
firmly between his thumb and index finger.
Following Thursday's test, the president of the electoral
court, Judge Walter de Almeida Guilherme, told reporters that Silva "read
and wrote" during the exam, but did not give more details.
A final ruling is not expected before Friday, according a
court spokeswoman who declined to be quoted by name due to departmental rules.
Last month, Vladimir Porfirio, spokesman for Silva's
political party, said the campaign is "ready to prove the rigorous
legality of his candidacy."
If Silva is barred from office, the votes he received
will be declared invalid and a complex formula will be used to redistribute the
congressional seats at stake.
Brazil's 513-seat lower house is filled using a
proportional representation system that allocates seats to parties according to
the total number of votes their candidates win, so successful candidates can
sometimes pull several allies into office.