Moreover, the new law stipulated that at least one of the top three candidates to proportional seats was to be female. In case of non-compliance, COFIPE foresaw that the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE, Instituto Federal Electoral), responsible for organising federal elections, refused parties the right to register their candidates in the respective district. The law, however, contained a loophole as it exempted parties from applying the quota when candidates were elected by direct vote using a primary system.