Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo: Heriberto Paredes. Peninsula 360 Press – Global Exchange
This Sunday, October 2nd, could decide who will be the next President of Brazil. The first round of voting has begun in the South American country, and former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is leading the polls with numbers that rank him about half the taste of Brazilians able to vote, and hopefully 50 percent up today could achieve one vote to become President without the need for a second round.
The polling booths opened at 8:00 a.m. local time in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, and so far the elections are said to have been quiet.
The current president, Jair Bolsonaro, is seeking a third term at the helm of the country and the preferences put him second in the race for Brazil’s presidency.
Thus, this Sunday, more than 156 million Brazilians were called to the polling stations of the country’s 26 states and the federal district of Brasilia to elect the next President of the Republic, federal and state deputies, senators and governors, while the entire Chamber of Deputies and one-third of the Senate to be renewed.
In Brazil, voting is compulsory for all citizens between the ages of 18 and 69 and optional for young people between the ages of 16 and 17 and those over 70.
How do you vote?
According to the Supreme Electoral Court of Brazil ‒TSE‒
Voting will take place from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. using Brasilia time as a reference. This means that cities with different time zones have to adapt to the time of the federal capital. The uniformity of schedules is a novelty of this election.
To cast your vote, you only need to carry an official photo ID, it is not mandatory to present your voter ID.
In this sense, the identity card, national driver’s license, social identity, passport, reservist’s license, work card or any other legal document applies.
Voting can also be done with the digital version of the title, a free electoral justice application, and if the voter’s photo already appears there, the app serves as an official identification document.
If you have a regular electoral register, you can vote as normal, even if you have not collected any biometric data.
This year, Brazilians elect federal deputies, state or district deputies, senators, governors and the president of the republic.
However, voters can choose to only vote for the President if they so choose. The vote is not invalidated if the voter votes for a single position and opts for zero or blank in the others.
To make it easier, voters can take the famous hill, that is, write down on a piece of paper the positions and numbers of the elected candidates. However, it should be noted that voters are prohibited from entering the polling booths with cell phones or cameras, video cameras and radio communication devices.
On election day, the electoral tribunal allows voters to demonstrate individually and silently by party, coalition, or candidate through flags, pins, stickers, and T-shirts. But election propaganda is forbidden.
This note was produced with support from the Global Exchange organization in partnership with Peninsula 360 Press.
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