More than 156 million Brazilians are eligible to go to the polls in the 26 states and the Federal District this Sunday (2), from 8 am to 5 pm (Brasilia time). According to data from the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), there will be voting in 5,570 cities in the country and in 181 locations abroad.
Five positions are in dispute: federal, state or district deputy, senator, governor and president of the Republic.
According to TSE data, more than 27,900 candidates will compete for seats in proportional elections in Brazil. Of these, 10,600 are running for federal deputy, 16,700 are vying for a state deputy and 610 want a seat in the district parliament.
There are 1,285 candidates in the majority elections, according to TSE data. In total – proportional and majority elections – there are about 29,300.
Under the majority system – in which the one who receives the most votes wins – 27 governors, 27 senators and a president of the Republic will be chosen. If none of the candidates reaches more than 50% of the valid votes, the two most voted in the first stage contest the second round of elections.
Under the proportional system, 513 federal deputies will be elected to the Chamber of Deputies, in addition to state and district deputies for the 26 state legislative assemblies and the Legislative Chamber of the Federal District. To know the name of those who will fill the vacancies, the account is different. It is necessary to apply the so-called “electoral quotient and party quotient”.
The electoral quotient is defined by the sum of the number of valid votes (legend votes and nominal votes, excluding blanks and nulls), divided by the number of seats in dispute. Only isolated parties that reach the electoral quotient are entitled to a seat. In practice, to know who was elected, it is necessary, first, to have the result of which were the victorious political parties, and then, within each acronym that obtained a minimum number of votes, to verify which were the candidates and candidates with the most votes.
Functions
The President of the Republic and the governors are the heads of the respective federal, state or district executive powers. They are the ones who manage, organize and lead the entire structure of the public administration under their responsibility, during the four years of their mandates. They are also responsible, among other things, for proposing laws for the respective sphere of the Legislative Power to regulate and implement policies and carry out public works for the benefit of the population.
Senators make up the so-called Upper Chamber of the National Congress, which has 81 seats. In the Federal Senate, each of the 27 units of the federation has three seats with eight-year terms. The main role of senators is to review bills that are proposed and voted on in the Chamber of Deputies before proceeding to presidential sanction. Senators can also draft bills that will be reviewed by the Chamber of Deputies. With the federal deputies, the senators form the plenary of the National Congress, which has the competence to enact constitutional amendments and analyze presidential vetoes to the norms elaborated by the legislative houses.
It is also the responsibility of the senators to question, among others, those nominated for minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) and other higher courts, the Federal Audit Court (TCU), the public prosecutor. General of the Republic, Inspector General of Justice, the president and directors of the Central Bank and diplomats who are heads of diplomatic missions.
