🎠 Party carousel

Brazilian politics can be uniquely volatile, transactional and difficult to read. Finding the right barometer is no easy task, with pollsters missing the mark in recent elections, complaining that social media has made public opinion increasingly unpredictable. But an honest signal of where the political winds are blowing comes not from voters, but from the 513 members of the lower house of Congress.

From now until April 5, federal, state and municipal lawmakers are allowed to switch parties without losing their seats. In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that seats won in proportional elections belong to political parties, not to the individuals who occupy them. As such, lawmakers who abandon their party outside the designated window risk having to give up their public office. While the window is open, however, anything goes…

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