Brazil's electoral court votes against nullifying Temer's presidency

Brazil's top electoral court on Friday voted against a decision that could have potentially stripped Brazilian President Michel Temer of his presidency.

President of the Supreme Electoral Court Gilmar Mendes broke a three-three tie between the other six judges on the panel to absolve Temer of charges that he used illegal campaign financing to secure a win in the 2014 presidential elections when he ran as vice president and Dilma Rousseff as president.

Rousseff was impeached in 2016, putting Temer in charge, but if their electoral victory had been ruled invalid and nullified, his current status as president would have been thrown into question.

Judge Herman Benjamin, the rapporteur for the case, had said earlier in the day that sufficient evidence existed to invalidate the electoral outcome, presenting e-mails, testimony, bank records and other proof linking the winning ticket to corporate interests that made secret campaign contributions.

His arguments swayed two of the other judges, but fell short of consensus.

The trial was the first of its kind in Brazil.