Brazilian Elections

AS OF 2026-10-28 · 56 CONTESTS · presidential runoff, 25 October 2026 · WIKIPEDIA, NATIONAL ELECTORAL AUTHORITIES

Next election · general election, 6 October 2030 · Capital · Brasília in the metro rankings →

Where the chamber sits · 5.4 of 10, left to right, spread 1.5 →

Every Brazilian presidential election from the first Republic in 1891 to the 2026 runoff, and the Chamber of Deputies from the 1934 Constituent Assembly to 2026: the Old Republic's arranged counts, the dictatorship's electoral college and the New Republic's two-round battles, stated plainly throughout.

Presidential elections

1891–2026

Parliamentary elections

1934–2026

President today

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

re-elected 2026 in a runoff, 51.79%–48.21%

Years without a direct vote

1960–1989, under the military's electoral college

Presidential elections Parliamentary elections The long arc in charts Records How it works

Presidential elections

All 33 presidential contests, newest first. The Old Republic's machine counts and the dictatorship's electoral-college ratifications are labelled as such on every page.

The New Republic · 1989–2026

Direct two-round elections returned in 1989 with Collor's win over Lula. The real gave Cardoso two first-round victories, Lula's 2002 breakthrough began four straight Workers' Party wins, and the Bolsonaro years ended with the closest runoff in Brazilian history in 2022. In 2026 Flávio Bolsonaro led the first round and faced Lula in a runoff on 25 October.

20264 October 2026Provisional count as of 26 October 2026

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 51.8%def. Flávio Bolsonaro 48.2%turnout 78.9%

2022The closest runoff ever2 October and 30 October 2022

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 50.9%def. Jair Bolsonaro 49.1%turnout 79.0%

2018The Bolsonaro wave7 October and 28 October 2018

Jair Bolsonaro 55.1%def. Fernando Haddad 44.9%turnout 79.7%

20145 October and 26 October 2014

Dilma Rousseff 51.6%def. Aécio Neves 48.4%turnout 80.6%

20103 October and 31 October 2010

Dilma Rousseff 56.0%def. José Serra 44.0%turnout 81.9%

20061 October and 29 October 2006

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 60.8%def. Geraldo Alckmin 39.2%turnout 83.3%

2002Lula's breakthrough6 October and 27 October 2002

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 61.3%def. José Serra 38.7%turnout 82.3%

19984 October 1998

Fernando Henrique Cardoso 53.1%def. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 31.7%turnout 78.5%

19941994

Fernando Henrique Cardoso 54.3%def. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 27.0%turnout 82.2%

1989Direct elections return15 November and 17 December 1989

Fernando Collor 53.0%def. Lula da Silva 47.0%turnout 88.1%

The military regime's electoral college · 1964–1985

After the 1964 coup, presidents-general were ratified by a purged Congress and later an electoral college, with the imposed ARENA majority guaranteeing the outcome. The 1985 college vote turned the weapon around: the opposition's Tancredo Neves won, and the dictatorship ended.

1985The college chooses the opposition15 January 1985

Tancredo Neves 72.7%def. Paulo Maluf 27.3%

197815 October 1978

João Figueiredo 61.1%def. Euler Bentes Monteiro 38.9%

197415 January 1974

Ernesto Geisel 84.0%def. Ulysses Guimarães 16.0%

196925 October 1969

Emílio Garrastazu Médici 100.0%

19663 October 1966

Artur da Costa e Silva 100.0%

1964After the coup11 April 1964

Castelo Branco 98.6%def. Juarez Távora 0.8%

The populist republic · 1945–1960

Democratisation in 1945 brought Brazil's first mass elections: Dutra's win, Vargas's astonishing comeback by direct vote in 1950, Kubitschek's developmentalist 1955 victory, and Jânio Quadros's 1960 landslide — the last direct presidential vote for nearly three decades.

1960The last direct vote for 29 years3 October 1960

Jânio Quadros 48.3%def. Henrique Teixeira Lott 32.9%

19553 October 1955

Juscelino Kubitschek 35.7%def. Juarez Távora 30.3%

1950Vargas returns by the ballot3 October 1950

Getúlio Vargas 48.7%def. Eduardo Gomes 29.7%

19452 December 1945

Eurico Gaspar Dutra 55.4%def. Eduardo Gomes 34.7%turnout 82.1%

The Vargas era · 1934

Vargas was confirmed in office indirectly by the Constituent Assembly in 1934; the promised 1938 direct election never came — his Estado Novo coup of 1937 cancelled it and closed the Congress.

1934Chosen by the Constituent Assembly17 July 1934

Getúlio Vargas 70.6%def. Borges de Medeiros 23.8%

The Old Republic · 1891–1930

The First Republic's presidents were chosen on a tiny, literate-male franchise under 'café com leite' arrangements between the big-state machines, with open ballots and routine fraud. The chain broke in 1930, when the defeated Getúlio Vargas took power by revolution instead.

1930The election the Revolution overturned1 March 1930

Júlio Prestes 57.7%def. Getúlio Vargas 39.3%

19261 March 1926

Washington Luís 98.0%def. Other candidates 1.8%

19221922

Artur Bernardes 56.0%def. Nilo Peçanha 38.1%

191913 April 1919

Epitácio Pessoa 71.0%def. Ruy Barbosa 28.9%

19181 March 1918

Rodrigues Alves 99.1%def. Other candidates 0.4%

19141 March 1914

Venceslau Brás 91.6%def. Ruy Barbosa 8.2%

19101 March 1910

Hermes da Fonseca 57.1%def. Ruy Barbosa 31.5%

19061 March 1906

Afonso Pena 97.9%def. Lauro Sodré 1.6%

19021 March 1902

Rodrigues Alves 91.7%def. Quintino Bocaiuva 6.6%

18981 March 1898

Campos Sales 90.9%def. Lauro Sodré 8.4%

18941894

Prudente de Morais 80.2%def. Afonso Pena 11.1%

1891The first republican electionFebruary 1891

Deodoro da Fonseca 55.6%def. Prudente de Morais 41.8%

Parliamentary elections

The Chamber of Deputies contests from the 1934 Constituent Assembly to 2026, newest first, including the dictatorship's imposed two-party years and the fragmented chambers of the New Republic.

The New Republic's Congress · 1994–2026

Since 1994 the Chamber of Deputies has been elected on the same day as the president, by open-list proportional representation in 27 state-wide districts. No party has come close to a majority: the largest bench has swung from the PFL and PMDB to the PT and, since 2022, the Liberal Party, and every president has governed through a coalition of a dozen or more parties.

2026The Liberal Party's 1214 October 2026Provisional count as of 5 October 2026

Liberal Party 121/513turnout 79.1%

Liberal Party 121Workers' Party 70Brazil Union 46others 59

2022The Liberal Party's 992 October 2022

Liberal Party 99/513turnout 79.2%President: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Liberal Party 99Workers' Party 69Brazil Union 59others 71

2018The PSL's 51-seat surge7 October 2018

Workers' Party 56/513turnout 79.8%President: Jair Bolsonaro

Workers' Party 56Social Liberal Party 52Progressistas 37others 147

201428 parties in the Chamber5 October 2014

Workers' Party 69/513turnout 80.7%President: Dilma Rousseff

Workers' Party 69Brazilian Democratic Movement Party 66Brazilian Social Democracy Party 54others 115

2010The PT's bench under Dilma3 October 2010

Workers' Party 88/513turnout 81.9%President: Dilma Rousseff

Workers' Party 88Brazilian Democratic Movement Party 78Brazilian Social Democracy Party 54others 67

2006The PMDB retakes the largest bench1 October 2006

Brazilian Democratic Movement Party 89/513turnout 83.3%President: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Brazilian Democratic Movement Party 89Workers' Party 83Brazilian Social Democracy Party 65others 52

2002The PT's first plurality6 October 2002

Workers' Party 91/513turnout 82.3%President: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Workers' Party 91Liberal Front Party 84Brazilian Democratic Movement Party 76others 34

1998Cardoso's second-term Congress4 October 1998

Liberal Front Party 105/513turnout 78.5%President: Fernando Henrique Cardoso

Liberal Front Party 105Brazilian Social Democracy Party 99Brazilian Democratic Movement Party 83others 14

1994The Real Plan Congress3 October 1994

Brazilian Democratic Movement Party 107/513turnout 82.0%President: Fernando Henrique Cardoso

Brazilian Democratic Movement Party 107Liberal Front Party 89Brazilian Social Democracy Party 62others 25

Abertura and the New Republic · 1982–1990

The controlled opening restored multiparty contests in 1982, the 1986 election seated the assembly that wrote the 1988 Constitution, and 1990 elected the first Congress of the restored democracy.

1990First Congress of the New Republic3 October 1990

Brazilian Democratic Movement Party 108/503

Brazilian Democratic Movement Party 108Liberal Front Party 83Democratic Labour Party 46others 73

1986The constitution-writing Congress15 November 1986

Brazilian Democratic Movement Party 260/487

Brazilian Democratic Movement Party 260Liberal Front Party 118Democratic Social Party 33others 8

198215 November 1982

Democratic Social Party 235/479

Democratic Social Party 235Brazilian Democratic Movement Party 200Democratic Labour Party 23

The two-party dictatorship · 1966–1978

The military regime dissolved the parties and imposed exactly two: the governing ARENA and the tolerated opposition MDB. The MDB's 1974 surge turned a managed safety valve into a genuine opposition — elections the regime counted on winning began to bite.

197815 November 1978

National Renewal Alliance 231/422

National Renewal Alliance 231Brazilian Democratic Movement 191

1974The MDB surge15 November 1974

National Renewal Alliance 203/364

National Renewal Alliance 203Brazilian Democratic Movement 161

197015 November 1970

National Renewal Alliance 223/310

National Renewal Alliance 223Brazilian Democratic Movement 87

196615 November 1966

National Renewal Alliance 277/409

National Renewal Alliance 277Brazilian Democratic Movement 132

The populist republic's Congress · 1950–1962

Multiparty congressional politics under the 1946 constitution: the PSD, UDN and PTB triangle that framed every presidency from Dutra to Goulart, elected on a franchise that still excluded illiterate Brazilians.

19627 October 1962

Social Democratic Party 16/409

Social Democratic Party 16Brazilian Labour Party 12National Democratic Union 8others 367

19583 October 1958

National Democratic Union 8/326

National Democratic Union 8Social Democratic Party 6Brazilian Labour Party 6others 305

19543 October 1954

Social Democratic Party 114/326

Social Democratic Party 114National Democratic Union 74Brazilian Labour Party 56others 17

19503 October 1950

Social Democratic Party 112/304

Social Democratic Party 112National Democratic Union 81Brazilian Labour Party 51others 6

Constituent assemblies · 1934–1947

The 1934 Constituent Assembly wrote the short-lived Second Republic's constitution; the 1945 election seated the assembly that wrote 1946's, and 1947 filled the remaining seats — the founding votes of two democratic orders.

194719 January 1947

1945Democratisation election2 December 1945

Social Democratic Party 151/286turnout 82.1%

Social Democratic Party 151National Democratic Union 81Brazilian Labour Party 22others 1

1934Constituent Assembly1934

People's Slate 2/2

People's Slate 2

The long arc in charts

Hover any point for the exact figure.

The winner's decisive share, 1945–2026

From the populist republic's plurality wins through the runoff era: Collor over Lula, Cardoso's first-round victories, six Workers' Party wins, and 2022's 50.9%–49.1%, still the narrowest ever.

Winner's decisive-round share

Turnout in the direct-vote eras

Compulsory voting keeps Brazilian turnout near 80%, among the highest anywhere for an electorate of 150 million.

Presidential turnout

Records & superlatives

Highest turnout

88.1%

1989 presidential election

Closest runoff

50.9%

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 2022

Biggest runoff win

61.3%

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 2002

Most first-round votes

57.259.504

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 2022

Years without a direct vote

1960 to 1989, from Quadros's win to Collor's

Workers' Party runoff appearances

every runoff since redemocratisation has featured the PT

How Brazilian elections work

Two rounds since 1989

The president needs an absolute majority; if nobody clears 50% in October's first round, the top two meet again three weeks later. Every election since 2002 has featured the Workers' Party in the runoff.

Compulsory voting

Voting is compulsory for adults aged 18 to 70, and turnout runs near 80% of one of the world's largest electorates, with electronic voting machines counting the result within hours.

Open-list fragmentation

Chamber seats are allocated by open-list proportional representation in state-wide districts, producing one of the world's most fragmented legislatures: every president governs by coalition.

The franchise's long climb

The Old Republic barred illiterate Brazilians, most of the country, from voting; women gained the vote in 1932, illiterate citizens only in 1985. Universal suffrage in Brazil is younger than the personal computer.