Political chaos has undermined the build-up to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August, with a vote calling for Rousseff's impeachment gaining the necessary two-thirds majority in the Lower House on April 17.

The President is accused of "fiscal irresponsibility" for allegedly trying to manipulate budget gaps during the 2014 election but denies wrongdoing.

She may have been given a glimmer of hope, however, after Waldir Maranhao, who took over as acting speaker last week, released a statement confirming the vote had been voided.

He said a new vote would be required as a result of "procedural flaws" in previous proceedings. 

Voting members should not have announced publicly their views, he said, while he claimed party leaders were wrong to instruct their members to vote as a block.

Following the initial vote, the matter was passed to the Brazilian Senate, who were due to vote on whether to start a full impeachment trial on Wednesday (May 11).

A Senate Committee had recommended a decision in favour of this on Friday (May 6).

It is now unclear, however, if the Senate vote will even go ahead with Maranhao wanting the case to be passed back to the Lower House.

If a trial was ordered, Rousseff would have immediately been suspended for the duration and forced to stand down for at least 180 days.

That would see her ruled out of the Rio Olympics which will begin with the Opening Ceremony on August 5.

Vice-president Michel Temer would automatically take over.

Maranhao took over as speaker when Eduardo Cunha was suspended by the Supreme Court for allegedly interfering in a corruption investigation.

Rousseff, a former Marxist guerrilla fighter who has called for the Olympics to unite the population, has protested her innocence. 

Her supporters claim she is a victim of a right-wing coup d'état.

Olympic officials insist that the farcical situation will have no impact on the Games, beyond who declares them officially open during the Opening Ceremony.

Rousseff has already fulfilled key Olympic-related objectives such as passing a Presidential Decree on Brazilian anti-doping legislation, thus ensuring the country remains compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code. 

She told CNN that she would be "very sad" to be removed before the Olympics, as she has worked "very hard" to realise the Games from day one.

The current crisis comes with the Olympic Torch Relay underway in Brazil.