In accordance with the Constitution of Brazil (1988), the president is the head of the executive branch of the country. He is elected for four years with the right to be re-elected for one term.
The President is elected at the same time as the Vice President.
The first round of elections is held on the first Sunday of October, the second round, if necessary, on the last Sunday of October of the year preceding the end of the current presidential term.
Voting in Brazil is universal and compulsory for all educated citizens between the ages of 18 and 70. Voting is optional for citizens aged 16 and 17, over 70 and illiterates of any age.
The current legislation determines the imposition of a fine on voters who did not appear at the polling stations and did not justify their absence within 60 days after the election (in the case of voters who are abroad on election day, the period is 30 days from the day they return to the country).
Voters who fail to vote in three consecutive elections, fail to pay a fine, or fail to exonerate themselves within six months of the last election they were due to attend will be removed from the voter register . In this case, each round of elections is considered a separate vote.
Elections are held according to the majoritarian electoral system of absolute majority. In presidential elections, the whole country is one constituency.
Brazilian citizens who have reached the age of 35 can be candidates for the presidency. Only candidates registered by parties can run for office.
If the presidential candidate holds another public office, he must resign from it at least six months before the date of the election.
On election day, polling stations are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Biometric data (fingerprints) are used to identify voters. At the same time, it is noted that in 2020, registration of new biometric data was suspended throughout the country amid the coronavirus pandemic. Voters who have not yet had their biometrics collected will not be denied a vote.
Voting is completely electronic. For these purposes, special terminals are used that are not connected to the Internet. The voter must indicate on the terminal for electronic voting the party number of the presidential candidate for whom he wants to vote. After that, information about the selection made is displayed on the terminal screen. Then, having checked the correctness of the accounting, the voter must confirm his choice. After that, the voter’s choice is counted and stored on the memory card.
After the end of the voting time, the device prints out the results for the polling station. A copy of the first copy of the protocol on the results of voting is posted for public viewing in the premises of the polling station. The results of voting in the relevant polling station are transmitted to the regional tribunals and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal through a network independent of the Internet. In remote regions such as the Amazon, satellite communications are sometimes used.
The candidate who receives an absolute majority of the votes is considered elected. If none of the candidates received more than 50% of the votes, then a second round is held, in which the two candidates who received the largest number of votes participate.
If before the second round of elections one of the candidates dies or withdraws his candidacy, the next candidate on the list with the largest number of votes is invited to the second round.
If several candidates receive the same number of votes, the one who is older in age is considered elected.
The President and Vice President of the Republic take office at a meeting of the National Congress.
In 2022, the first round of the presidential elections in Brazil will take place on October 2. In the event that the results of the voting require a second round, it will be held on October 30.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from Novosti and open sources