Parliamentary elections were held in Brazil on 15 November 1978.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...

(2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II'', p. 173 The pro-government National Renewal Alliance Party (ARENA) won 231 of the 420 seats in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

and 15 of the 23 seats in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. Voter turnout was 82%. They were the last elections held under a mandatory two-party system, as reforms were enacted in 1979 by Brazil's governing military junta, represented in Congress by ARENA, to allow a multi-party system to emerge in an effort to combat the growing popularity of the opposition Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB) by splitting their vote.Nohlen, p. 166

Electoral system

In 1977 the electoral system had been reformed, making the election of senators indirect. As with the 1979 reforms, this was primarily done in response to the growth of the Brazilian Democratic Movement. The Senate election saw the MDB win only eight of the 23 seats, despite receiving 57% of the vote.Nohlen, pp. 212–228

Electoral system

Results

Chamber of Deputies

Senate

References