Brazil to have 155 million voters in this year’s municipal elections
On Thursday (Jul. 18), Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court announced the electorate eligible to go to the polls in next October's municipal elections. The country is set to have 155.9 million voters who will elect mayors, deputy mayors, and councilors.
According to the court, this figure represents a 5.4 percent increase compared to the 2020 elections. In a press release, Justice Cármen Lúcia, the court's president, emphasized that the growth in the electorate demonstrates that elections in Brazil are both democratic and auditable.
"The high number of voters confirms what has been evident in Brazilian history, especially since the Brazilian Constitution of 1988 and over the last 28 years with the development of the electronic voting system. This reflects the benefit of free democratic elections: predictable in timing, auditable in process, transparent in execution, and efficient in results," said the minister.
The first round of elections will be held on October 6. A second round may take place on October 27 in municipalities with more than 200,000 voters if no mayoral candidate receives more than half of the valid votes, excluding blank and null ballots, in the first round. With a few exceptions, voting is compulsory in Brazil.
In October, the municipality of Borá in São Paulo state will have the smallest electorate, with just 1,094 eligible voters. In contrast, São Paulo will have the largest electorate, totaling 9.3 million voters, while Rio de Janeiro will have 5 million voters.
