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-third 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.
Contents
Schedule
Election
| Position | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| President and vice president |
President and vice president | None | President and vice president | None | ||||
| National Congress | All seats (Chamber of Deputies) One third (Federal Senate) |
None | All seats (Chamber of Deputies) Two thirds (Federal Senate) |
None | ||||
| 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 |
Inauguration
| Position | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Presidential (January) National Congress (January) Gubernatorial (January) States and Federal District Parliaments (January) |
None | Mayors (January) City Councils (January) |
None | Presidential (January) National Congress (January) Gubernatorial (January) States and Federal District Parliaments (January) |
None | Mayors (January) City Councils (January) |
None |
| President and vice president |
1 January | None | 1 January | None | ||||
| National Congress | 1 February | None | 1 February | None | ||||
| States, cities and municipalities | 1 January | None | 1 January | None | 1 January | None | 1 January | None |
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 (or coalitions) 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]
Brazilian voting machines
2014 general election
Presidential election
| Candidate | Running mate | Coalition | First round | Second round | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valid Votes | % | Valid Votes | % | |||
| Dilma Rousseff (PT) | Michel Temer (PMDB) | With the strength of the people | 43,267,668 | 41.59 | 54,501,119 | 51.64 |
| Aécio Neves (PSDB) | Aloysio Nunes (PSDB) | Change, Brazil | 34,897,211 | 33.55 | 51,041,155 | 48.36 |
| Marina Silva (PSB) | Beto Albuquerque (PSB) | United for Brazil | 22,176,619 | 21.32 | ||
| Luciana Genro (PSOL) | Jorge Paz (PSOL) | — | 1,612,186 | 1.55 | ||
| Everaldo Pereira (PSC) | Leonardo Gadelha (PSC) | — | 780,513 | 0.75 | ||
| Eduardo Jorge (PV) | Célia Sacramento (PV) | — | 630,099 | 0.61 | ||
| Levy Fidelix (PRTB) | José Alves de Oliveira (PRTB) | — | 446,878 | 0.43 | ||
| Zé Maria (PSTU) | Cláudia Durans (PSTU) | — | 91,209 | 0.09 | ||
| José Maria Eymael (PSDC) | Roberto Lopes (PSDC) | — | 61,250 | 0.06 | ||
| Mauro Iasi (PCB) | Sofia Manzano (PCB) | — | 47,845 | 0.05 | ||
| Rui Costa Pimenta (PCO) | Ricardo Machado (PCO) | — | 12,324 | 0.01 | ||
| Valid votes | 104,023,543 | 90.36 | 105,542,274 | 93.66 | ||
| Null votes | 6,678,580 | 5.80 | 5,219,787 | 4.63 | ||
| Blank votes | 4,420,488 | 3.84 | 1,921,819 | 1.71 | ||
| Total votes | 115,122,611 | 100.00 | 112,683,879 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 142,822,046 | 80.61 | 142,822,046 | 78.90 | ||
| Voting age population/turnout | 150,803,268 | 76.34 | 150,803,268 | 74.72 | ||
| Source: Tribunal Superior Eleitoral. | ||||||
Parliamentary election
| Coalition | Parties | Chamber | Senate | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | % of seats | +/– | Elected seats | Total seats | % of seats | +/– | |||
| Govern Coalition "With the Strength of the People" |
PT | 68 | 13.26 | -20 | 2 | 12 | 14.81 | -2 | |
| PMDB | 66 | 12.87 | −13 | 5 | 18 | 22.22 | -2 | ||
| PP | 38 | 7.41 | -5 | 1 | 5 | 6,17 | ±0 | ||
| PSD | 36 | 7.02 | New | 2 | 3 | 3.7 | New | ||
| PR | 34 | 6.63 | -7 | 1 | 4 | 4.94 | ±0 | ||
| PRB | 21 | 4.09 | +13 | 0 | 1 | 1.23 | ±0 | ||
| PDT | 19 | 3.7 | -9 | 4 | 8 | 9.88 | +4 | ||
| PROS | 11 | 2.14 | New | 0 | 1 | 1.23 | New | ||
| PCdoB | 10 | 1.95 | −5 | 0 | 1 | 1.23 | -1 | ||
| Total | 303 | 59.07 | +5 | 15 | 53 | 65.43 | +3 | ||
| Opposition Coalition "Change Brazil" |
PSDB | 54 | 10.53 | +1 | 4 | 10 | 12.35 | −1 | |
| DEM | 21 | 4.09 | −21 | 3 | 5 | 6.17 | −1 | ||
| PTB | 25 | 4.88 | +4 | 2 | 3 | 2.47 | −3 | ||
| SD | 15 | 2.76 | New | 0 | 1 | 1.23 | New | ||
| PTdoB | 2 | 0.39 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ±0 | ||
| PTN | 4 | 0.78 | +4 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ±0 | ||
| PEN | 2 | 0.39 | New | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | New | ||
| PMN | 3 | 0.58 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | -1 | ||
| PTC | 2 | 0.39 | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ±0 | ||
| Total | 128 | 25.47 | +3 | 9 | 19 | 23.46 | –5 | ||
| Opposition Coalition "United for Brazil" |
PSB | 34 | 6.63 | ±0 | 3 | 7 | 8.64 | +4 | |
| PPS | 10 | 1.95 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | -1 | ||
| PHS | 5 | 0.97 | +3 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ±0 | ||
| PSL | 1 | 0.2 | ±0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ±0 | ||
| PRP | 3 | 0.58 | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ±0 | ||
| PPL | 0 | 0.0 | New | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | New | ||
| Total | 53 | 10.33 | +2 | 3 | 7 | 8.64 | +3 | ||
| Out of coalition | PSC | 13 | 2.53 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | −1 | |
| PV | 8 | 1.56 | -7 | 0 | 1 | 1.23 | +1 | ||
| PSOL | 5 | 0.97 | +2 | 0 | 1 | 1.23 | -1 | ||
| PSDC | 2 | 0.39 | +2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ±0 | ||
| PRTB | 1 | 0.2 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ±0 | ||
| PSTU | 0 | 0.0 | ±0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ±0 | ||
| PCB | 0 | 0.0 | ±0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ±0 | ||
| PCO | 0 | 0.0 | ±0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ±0 | ||
| Total | 513 | 100.0 | ±0 | 27 | 81 | 100.0 | ±0 | ||
Past elections and referendums
| Presidential elections | |
|---|---|
| Legislative elections | |
| Municipal elections | |
| Referendums | |
Election results 1982–2014
Brazilian legislative elections (Chamber of Deputies), 1982–2014
| Parties | 1982 | 1986 | 1990 | 1994 | 1998 | 2002 | 2006 | 2010 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workers' Party | 03.5 | 06.9 | 10.2 | 12.8 | 13.2 | 18.4 | 15.0 | 16.9 | 14.0 |
| Brazilian Democratic Movement Party | 43.0 | 48,1 | 19.3 | 20.3 | 15.2 | 13.4 | 14.6 | 13.0 | 11.1 |
| Brazilian Social Democracy Party | - | - | 08.7 | 13.9 | 17.5 | 14.3 | 13.6 | 11.9 | 11.4 |
| Liberal Front Party/Democrats | - | 17.7 | 12.4 | 12.9 | 17.3 | 13.4 | 10.9 | 07.6 | 04.2 |
| Liberal Party / Republic Party | - | 02.8 | 04.3 | 03.5 | 02.5 | 04.3 | 04.4 | 07.6 | 05.8 |
| Brazilian Socialist Party | - | 00.9 | 01.9 | 02.2 | 03.4 | 05.3 | 06.2 | 07.1 | 06.5 |
| Progressive Party | - | - | - | 06.9 | 11.3 | 07.8 | 07.1 | 06.6 | 06.4 |
| Democratic Labour Party | 05.8 | 06.5 | 10.0 | 07.2 | 05.7 | 05.1 | 05.2 | 05.0 | 03.6 |
| Brazilian Labour Party | 04.5 | 04.5 | 05.6 | 05.2 | 05.7 | 04.6 | 04.7 | 04.2 | 04.0 |
| Green Party | - | - | - | 00.1 | 00.4 | 01.3 | 03.6 | 03.8 | 02.1 |
| Social Christian Party | - | - | 00.8 | 00.5 | 00.7 | 00.6 | 01.9 | 03.2 | 02.5 |
| Communist Party of Brazil | - | 00.8 | 00.9 | 01.2 | 01.3 | 02.2 | 02.1 | 02.8 | 02.0 |
| Popular Socialist Party | - | 00.9 | 01.0 | 00.6 | 01.3 | 03.1 | 03.9 | 02.6 | 02.0 |
| Brazilian Republican Party | - | - | - | - | - | - | 00.3 | 01.7 | 04.5 |
| Socialism and Liberty Party | - | - | - | - | - | - | 01.2 | 01.2 | 01.8 |
| Party of National Mobilization | - | - | 00.6 | 00.6 | 00.5 | 00.3 | 00.9 | 01.1 | 00.5 |
| Democratic Social / Reform Progressive Party | 43.2 | 07.8 | 08.9 | 09.4 | - | - | - | - | - |
| National Reconstruction Party / Christian Labour Party | - | - | 08.3 | 00.4 | 00.1 | 00.1 | 00.9 | 00.6 | 00.7 |
| Christian Democratic Party / Christian Social Democratic Party | - | 01.2 | 03.0 | - | 00.1 | 00.2 | 00.4 | 00.2 | 00.5 |
| Party of the Reconstruction of the National Order | - | - | - | 00.7 | 00.9 | 02.1 | 01.0 | - | - |
| Social Democratic Party | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 06.2 |
| Republican Party of the Social Order | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 02.0 |
| Solidarity | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 02.7 |
| National Labor Party | - | - | - | - | 00.1 | 00.1 | 00.2 | 00.2 | 00.4 |
| National Ecologic Party | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 00.7 |
| Labour Party of Brazil | - | - | 00.2 | - | 00.3 | 00.2 | 00.3 | 00.7 | 00.8 |
| Humanist Party of Solidarity | - | - | - | - | - | 00.3 | 00.5 | 00.8 | 00.9 |
| Progressive Republican Party | - | - | 00.2 | 00.5 | 00.4 | 00.3 | 00.3 | 00.3 | 00.7 |
| Social Liberal Party | - | - | - | - | 00.3 | 00.5 | 00.2 | 00.5 | 00.8 |
| Brazilian Labour Renewal Party | - | - | - | 00.1 | 00.1 | 00.3 | 00.2 | 00.3 | 00.5 |
| Others | 00.0 | 02.8 | 03.7 | 00.7 | 01.7 | 01.5 | 00.4 | 00.0 | 00.7 |
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.
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
| Presidential elections | |
|---|---|
| Legislative elections | |
| Municipal elections | |
| Referendums | |