Brazil's supreme electoral court has barred former President Jair Bolsonaro from running for office for eight years.
 
The eight-year ban, which runs retroactively from the first round of last year’s election in October, means Bolsonaro will be barred from contesting any polls – local, state, or federal – until 2030. He is, however, allowed to remain politically active.
 
A majority of the seven judges on the Superior Electoral Court voted in favour of convicting the 68-year-old former army captain of abuse of political power and misuse of media ahead of last year’s presidential election, which he narrowly lost to leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
 
The trial at the electoral court focused on whether Bolsonaro had committed an abuse of political power and misuse of the media when he hosted foreign ambassadors in July last year to o air doubts about the reliability of the nation’s electronic voting machines.
 
Bolsonaro responded to the court's decision by asking why trying to enhance the reliability of an election constitutes a crime. He said he will consult with his lawyers.
 
Bolsonaro still retains influence and significant backing from his core supporters, mainly conservatives.