Brazilians go to the polls

More than 142 million Brazilians are eligible to vote in the general elections this Sunday (Oct. 5). They will choose their preferred candidates running for president, 27 senators, 27 state governors, federal deputies, plus state and district legislators. According to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), 52.13% of voters are women, and 47.78% are men.

The presidency is being contested by 11 candidates, three of whom, combined, are the preferred candidates of a majority of Brazilians according to polls – Dilma Rousseff, the incumbent president running for re-election under the Workers' Party (PT); Marina Silva, running under the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB); and Aécio Neves, of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB).

In Brazil, the election efforts will rely on more than 530,000 electronic voting machines across the country, and a massive task force that includes 2.4 million poll workers, 3,033 judges, and about 22,000 Electoral Court officials. Overseas, there are 354,000 eligible Brazilian voters in 135 cities across 89 countries. Brazilians living abroad are only eligible to vote for president. The largest portion of this population, 112,200 Brazilians, is in the United States, followed by 30,600 in Japan, 30,400 in Portugal; 20,900 in Italy; 17,500 in Germany. However, eligible voters who live in countries where there are fewer than 30 Brazilian voters will not be able to vote.

Voting time runs until 5 pm today. Specifically for candidates running for president and governor, a final result could be reached today or in the run-offs between the two best-voted candidates for each position on Oct. 26.

Translated by Mayra Borges