Elections in Brazil
Brazil elects on the national level a head of state—the president—and a legislature. The president is elected to a four-year term by absolute majority vote through a two-round system. The National Congress (Congresso Nacional) has two chambers. The Chamber of Deputies (Câmara dos Deputados) has 513 members, elected to a four-year term by proportional representation. The Federal Senate (Senado Federal) has 81 members, elected to an eight-year term, with elections every four years for alternatively one-third and two-thirds of the seats. Brazil has a multi-party system, with such numerous parties that often no one party has a chance of gaining power alone, and so they must work with each other to form coalition governments.
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Brazil |
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Brazil portal |
Schedule
Election
Position | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Type | Presidential (October) National Congress (October) Gubernatorial (October) States and Federal District Parliaments (October) | None | Mayors (October) City Councils (October) | None | Presidential (October) National Congress (October) Gubernatorial (October) States and Federal District Parliaments (October) | None | Mayors (October) City Councils (October) | None | Presidential (October) National Congress (October) Gubernatorial (October) States and Federal District Parliaments (October) |
President and vice president |
President and vice president | None | President and vice president | None | President and vice president | ||||
National Congress | All seats (Chamber of Deputies) One third (Federal Senate) | None | All seats (Chamber of Deputies) Two thirds (Federal Senate) | None | All seats (Chamber of Deputies) One third (Federal Senate) | ||||
States, cities and municipalities | All positions (States and Federal District) | None | All positions (Municipalities) | None | All positions (States and Federal District) | None | All positions (Municipalities) | None | All positions (States and Federal District) |
Inauguration
Position | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Type | Presidential (January) National Congress (February) Gubernatorial (January) States and Federal District Parliaments (January) | None | Mayors (January) City Councils (January) | None | Presidential (January) National Congress (February) Gubernatorial (January) States and Federal District Parliaments (January) | None | Mayors (January) City Councils (January) | None | Presidential (January) National Congress (February) Gubernatorial (January) States and Federal District Parliaments (January) |
President and vice president |
1 January | None | 1 January | None | 1 January | ||||
National Congress | 1 February | None | 1 February | None | 1 February | ||||
States, cities and municipalities | 1 January | None | 1 January | None | 1 January | None | 1 January | None | 1 January |
Electoral systems
Deputies are elected to the Chamber of Deputies using a form of party-list proportional representation known as the "open list."[1]
Senators are elected to the Federal Senate with a plurality of the vote in a first-past-the-post system, which is not proportional.[2] Three senators are elected for each state and for the Federal District.[3]
In municipal governments, the city council is elected using an open list proportional representation system. Seats are allocated using a version of the D'Hondt method where only parties who receive at least V/n votes (where V is the total number of votes cast and n is the total number of seats to be filled) may win seats in the legislature.[4][5] A presidential candidate in Brazil needs to gain fifty per cent plus one of votes to be named as winner.[6]
Voting in Brazil is compulsory for all literate citizens over 18 and under 70, and optional for citizens who are aged 16 and 17, older than 70 or illiterate. Brazil introduced compulsory voting into its Electoral Code in 1932 and lowered the voting age from 18 to 16 in the 1988 constitution.[7] The 1988 constitution also granted voluntary suffrage to the illiterate citizens of Brazil.[8]
Brazilian voting machines
2018 general election
Presidential election
Candidate | Running mate | Coalition | First round | Second round | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valid Votes | % | Valid Votes | % | |||
Jair Bolsonaro (PSL) | Hamilton Mourão (PRTB) | Brazil Above Everything, God Above Everyone | 49,276,990 | 46.03 | 57,797,847 | 55.13 |
Fernando Haddad (PT) | Manuela d'Ávila (PCdoB) | The People Happy Again | 31,342,005 | 29.28 | 47,040,906 | 44.87 |
Ciro Gomes (PDT) | Kátia Abreu (PDT) | Sovereign Brazil | 13,344,366 | 12.47 | ||
Geraldo Alckmin (PSDB) | Ana Amélia (PP) | To Unite Brazil | 5,096,349 | 4.76 | ||
João Amoêdo (NOVO) | Christian Lohbauer (NOVO) | — | 2,679,744 | 2.50 | ||
Cabo Daciolo (PATRI) | Suelene Balduíno (PATRI) | — | 1,348,323 | 1.26 | ||
Henrique Meirelles (MDB) | Germano Rigotto (MDB) | This is the Solution | 1,288,948 | 1.20 | ||
Marina Silva (REDE) | Eduardo Jorge (PV) | United to Transform Brazil | 1,069,577 | 1.00 | ||
Alvaro Dias (PODE) | Paulo Rabello de Castro (PSC) | Real Change | 859,601 | 0.80 | ||
Guilherme Boulos (PSOL) | Sônia Guajajara (PSOL) | Let's Go Without Fear of Changing Brazil | 617,122 | 0.58 | ||
Vera Lúcia (PSTU) | Hertz Dias (PSTU) | — | 55,762 | 0.05 | ||
José Maria Eymael (DC) | Hélvio Costa (DC) | — | 41,170 | 0.04 | ||
João Vicente Goulart (PPL) | Léo Dias (PPL) | — | 30,176 | 0.03 | ||
Valid votes | 107,050,133 | 91.21 | 104,838,753 | 90.43 | ||
Null votes | 7,206,205 | 6.14 | 8,608,105 | 7.43 | ||
Blank votes | 3.106.936 | 2.65 | 2,486,593 | 2.14 | ||
Total votes | 117,363,274 | 100.00 | 115,933,451 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 117,363,274 | 79.67 | 115,933,451 | 78.70 | ||
Source: Tribunal Superior Eleitoral. |
Parliamentary election
Party | Chamber of Deputies | Senate | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Votes | % | Elected | Total | +/– | ||
Social Liberal Party | 11,457,878 | 11.7 | 52 | +44 | 19,413,869 | 11.3 | 4 | 4 | +4 | |
Workers' Party | 10,126,611 | 10.3 | 56 | –13 | 24,785,670 | 14.5 | 4 | 6 | –6 | |
Brazilian Social Democracy Party | 5,905,541 | 6.0 | 29 | –25 | 20,310,558 | 11.9 | 4 | 8 | –2 | |
Social Democratic Party | 5,749,008 | 5.8 | 34 | –2 | 8,202,342 | 4.8 | 4 | 7 | +4 | |
Progressistas | 5,480,067 | 5.6 | 37 | –1 | 7,529,901 | 4.4 | 5 | 6 | +1 | |
Brazilian Democratic Movement | 5,439,167 | 5.5 | 34 | –32 | 12,800,290 | 7.5 | 7 | 12 | –6 | |
Brazilian Socialist Party | 5,386,400 | 5.5 | 32 | –2 | 8,234,195 | 4.8 | 2 | 2 | –5 | |
Republic Party | 5,224,591 | 5.3 | 33 | –1 | 3,130,082 | 1.8 | 1 | 2 | –2 | |
Brazilian Republican Party | 4,992,016 | 5.1 | 30 | +9 | 1,505,607 | 0.9 | 1 | 1 | – | |
Democrats | 4,581,162 | 4.7 | 29 | +8 | 9,218,658 | 5.4 | 4 | 6 | +2 | |
Democratic Labour Party | 4,545,846 | 4.6 | 28 | +9 | 7,737,982 | 4.5 | 2 | 5 | –3 | |
Socialism and Liberty Party | 2,783,669 | 2.8 | 10 | +5 | 5,273,853 | 3.1 | 0 | 0 | –1 | |
New Party | 2,748,079 | 2.8 | 8 | New | 3,467,746 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | – | |
Podemos | 2,243,320 | 2.3 | 11 | +7 | 5,494,125 | 3.2 | 1 | 5 | +5 | |
Republican Party of the Social Order | 2,042,610 | 2.1 | 8 | –3 | 1,370,513 | 0.8 | 1 | 1 | – | |
Brazilian Labour Party | 2,022,719 | 2.1 | 10 | –15 | 1,899,838 | 1.1 | 2 | 3 | – | |
Solidariedade | 1,953,067 | 2.0 | 13 | –2 | 4,001,903 | 2.3 | 1 | 1 | – | |
Avante | 1,844,048 | 1.9 | 7 | +5 | 713,379 | 0.4 | 0 | 0 | – | |
Social Christian Party | 1,765,226 | 1.8 | 8 | –5 | 4,126,068 | 2.4 | 1 | 1 | +1 | |
Green Party | 1,592,173 | 1.6 | 4 | –4 | 1,226,392 | 0.7 | 0 | 0 | –1 | |
Popular Socialist Party | 1,590,084 | 1.6 | 8 | –2 | 2,954,800 | 1.7 | 2 | 2 | +2 | |
Patriota | 1,432,304 | 1.5 | 5 | +3 | 60,589 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | – | |
Humanist Party of Solidarity | 1,426,444 | 1.5 | 6 | +1 | 4,228,973 | 2.5 | 2 | 2 | +2 | |
Communist Party of Brazil | 1,329,575 | 1.4 | 9 | –1 | 1,673,190 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | |
Progressive Republican Party | 851,368 | 0.9 | 4 | +1 | 1,974,061 | 1.2 | 1 | 1 | +1 | |
Sustainability Network | 816,784 | 0.8 | 1 | New | 7,166,003 | 4.2 | 5 | 5 | New | |
Brazilian Labour Renewal Party | 684,976 | 0.7 | 0 | –1 | 886,267 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | – | |
Party of National Mobilization | 634,129 | 0.6 | 3 | – | 329,973 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | – | |
Christian Labour Party | 601,814 | 0.6 | 2 | – | 222,931 | 0.1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | |
Free Homeland Party | 385,197 | 0.4 | 1 | +1 | 504,209 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | – | |
Christian Democracy | 369,386 | 0.4 | 1 | –1 | 154,068 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | – | |
Party of Brazilian Women | 228,302 | 0.2 | 0 | – | 51,027 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | – | |
Brazilian Communist Party | 61,343 | 0.1 | 0 | – | 256,655 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | – | |
United Socialist Workers Party | 41,304 | 0.0 | 0 | – | 413,914 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | – | |
Workers Cause Party | 2,785 | 0.0 | 0 | – | 38,691 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | – | |
Invalid/blank votes | 18,771,737 | – | – | – | 61,995,824 | – | – | – | – | |
Total | 117,111,476 | 100.0 | 513 | 0 | 117,111,478 | 100.0 | 54 | 81 | 0 | |
Registered voters/turnout | 146,750,529 | 79.8 | – | – | 146,750,529 | 79.8 | – | – | – | |
Source: Election Resources |
Election results 1982–2018
Brazilian legislative elections (Chamber of Deputies), 1982–2018
Parties | 1982 | 1986 | 1990 | 1994 | 1998 | 2002 | 2006 | 2010 | 2014 | 2018 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Workers' Party | 3.5 | 6.9 | 10.2 | 12.8 | 13.2 | 18.4 | 15.0 | 16.9 | 14.0 | 10.3 |
Brazilian Democratic Movement | 43.0 | 48,1 | 19.3 | 20.3 | 15.2 | 13.4 | 14.6 | 13.0 | 11.1 | 5.5 |
Brazilian Social Democracy Party | - | - | 8.7 | 13.9 | 17.5 | 14.3 | 13.6 | 11.9 | 11.4 | 6.0 |
Liberal Front Party/Democrats | - | 17.7 | 12.4 | 12.9 | 17.3 | 13.4 | 10.9 | 7.6 | 4.2 | 4.7 |
Liberal Party / Party of the Republic | - | 2.8 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 7.6 | 5.8 | 5.3 |
Brazilian Socialist Party | - | 0.9 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 3.4 | 5.3 | 6.2 | 7.1 | 6.5 | 5.5 |
Progressistas | - | - | - | 6.9 | 11.3 | 7.8 | 7.1 | 6.6 | 6.4 | 5.6 |
Democratic Labour Party | 5.8 | 6.5 | 10.0 | 7.2 | 5.7 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 5.0 | 3.6 | 4.6 |
Brazilian Labour Party | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5.6 | 5.2 | 5.7 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 2.1 |
Green Party | - | - | - | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 2.1 | 1.6 |
Social Christian Party | - | - | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 3.2 | 2.5 | 1.8 |
Communist Party of Brazil | - | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 2.0 | 1.4 |
Popular Socialist Party | - | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 2.6 | 2.0 | 1.6 |
Brazilian Republican Party | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.3 | 1.7 | 4.5 | 5.1 |
Socialism and Liberty Party | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 2.8 |
Party of National Mobilization | - | - | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
Democratic Social / Reform Progressive Party | 43.2 | 7.8 | 8.9 | 9.4 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
National Reconstruction Party / Christian Labour Party | - | - | 8.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
Christian Democratic Party / Christian Social Democratic Party / Christian Democracy | - | 1.2 | 3.0 | - | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
Party of the Reconstruction of the National Order | - | - | - | 0.7 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 1.0 | - | - | - |
Social Democratic Party | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5.8 |
Republican Party of the Social Order | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 2.1 |
Solidariedade | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.7 | 2.0 |
National Labor Party / Podemos | - | - | - | - | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 2.3 |
National Ecologic Party / Patriota | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.7 | 1.5 |
Labour Party of Brazil / Avante | - | - | 0.2 | - | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.9 |
Humanist Party of Solidarity | - | - | - | - | - | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.5 |
Progressive Republican Party | - | - | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.9 |
Social Liberal Party | - | - | - | - | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 11.7 |
Brazilian Labour Renewal Party | - | - | - | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
New Party | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.8 |
Sustainability Network | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.8 |
Others | 0.0 | 2.8 | 3.7 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
Referendums
Brazil has held three national referendums in its history. In the first, held on January 6, 1963, the people voted for the re-establishment of the presidential system of government (82% of valid ballots), which had been modified by a constitutional amendment in 1961. A second referendum, as ordered by the Federal Constitution of 1988, was held on April 21, 1993, when the voters voted for a republican form of government and reaffirmed the presidential system.
A third national referendum, on the prohibition of the commerce of personal firearms and ammunition, was held on October 23, 2005. The ban proposal was rejected by 64% of the electorate.
See also
References
- "Grumpy about voting reform". The Economist. 2011-02-22. Retrieved 2011-05-04.
- "The Federal Senate". Portal da Câmara dos Deputados. Retrieved 2011-05-04.
- Andrianantoandro, Andy (2010-10-14). "Brazil's Presidential Hopefuls Face Runoff, National Congress Needs Reform". FairVote.org. Retrieved 2011-05-04.
- "Como funciona o sistema proporcional?". Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (Superior Electoral Court). Retrieved 2017-09-01.
- Romao, Mauricio (2010-05-05). "Parlamentares "Eleitos Por Média"". Retrieved 2017-09-01.
- Brazil: Lula renounces candidacy ahead of presidential poll
- ""Voting is compulsory for Brazilians aged 18 to 70"". Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (Superior Electoral Court). Retrieved 2019-04-08.
- Power, Timothy J. (2009). "Compulsory for Whom? Mandatory Voting and Electoral Participation in Brazil, 1986-2006". Journal of Politics in Latin America. 1 (1): 97–122. doi:10.1177/1866802x0900100105. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
External links
- Adam Carr's Election Archive
- Simulated voting machine (Portuguese) Courtesy of the Brazilian Superior Electoral Court website. (Java required)
- Brief history of electronic voting in Brazil
- Brazil: The Perfect Electoral Crime (II) (Security analysis of the Brazilian voting machines by James Burk, Oct. 21, 2006)
- Electoral Law of Brazil
- Inelegibility Law of Brazil