2026 Brazilian general election
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General elections will be held in Brazil on 4 October 2026 to elect the president, vice president, members of the National Congress, the governors, vice governors and legislative assemblies of all federative units, and the district council of Fernando de Noronha. If no candidate for president or governor receives the majority of the valid votes in the first round, a runoff election will be held on 25 October 2026.
Incumbent president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party is eligible for a fourth term (second consecutively), and has announced his intention to seek re-election.[1]
Background
Having unsuccessfully run for president in 1989, 1994 and 1998, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the left-wing Workers' Party was elected in 2002 and 2006. He was then succeeded by his chief of staff, Dilma Rousseff, who was elected in 2010 and 2014. In 2016, Rousseff was removed from office due to administrative misconduct and was succeeded by her vice president, Michel Temer of the centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement. Lula attempted to run for president again but was prevented due to his conviction on corruption charges in 2017 as part of Operation Car Wash and imprisoned in 2018. Right-wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro of the Social Liberal Party was elected president in 2018. Bolsonaro left the Social Liberal Party in 2019 and joined the Liberal Party in 2021.
A series of rulings by the Supreme Federal Court questioning the legality of Lula's trial led to his release from prison in 2019 and the restoration of his political rights by 2021.[2][3] Lula narrowly defeated Bolsonaro in the 2022 presidential election, securing a non-consecutive third term. In response to his loss, some Bolsonaro supporters demanded a military coup to prevent Lula's inauguration, but failed to gather sufficient support.[citation needed] Bolsonaro was subsequently convicted by the Supreme Federal Court, barred from running for a second term before 2030, and arrested in 2025.[4] He endorsed his son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro.
Electoral system
Brazil's president and vice president are elected as a joint ticket using the two-round system. The first round of elections is held on the first Sunday of October (in this instance, 4 October 2026).[5] A candidate who receives more than half of the valid votes in the first round is elected. If this threshold is not met by any candidate, the two most voted candidates in the first round participate in a second round of voting, held on the last Sunday of October (in this instance, 25 October 2026), and the most voted candidate in the second round is elected. Elections for governors and vice governors of all 26 states and of the Federal District are held on the same dates and with the same two-round system as the presidential election.
Two-thirds of the 81 members of the Brazilian Senate are up for election in 2026, two senators being elected from each of the states and the Federal District using plurality block voting. The other third of the Senate was elected in 2022.[6]
All 513 members of the Chamber of Deputies (federal deputies) are elected from 27 multi-member constituencies corresponding to the states and the Federal District, varying in size from 8 to 70 seats. All members of the state legislative assemblies (state deputies) and of the Legislative Chamber of the Federal District (district deputies), varying in size from 24 to 94 seats, are also elected. These elections are held using open list, proportional representation, with seats allocated using integer quotients and the D'Hondt method.[7][8]
All seven members of the District Council of Fernando de Noronha are elected by single non-transferable vote. Unlike elections for other offices in Brazil, candidates for this council are not nominated by political parties.[9]
Voters

Voting in Brazil is allowed for citizens over 16 years of age and mandatory for literate citizens between 18 and 70 years of age, except conscripts, who are not allowed to vote during their period of mandatory military service.[10] Those who are required but do not vote in an election and do not present an acceptable justification, such as being absent from their voting locality at the time,[11] must pay a fine, normally R$3.51,[12][13] equivalent to about US$0.70 as of 2026. In some cases, the fine may be waived, reduced, or increased by up to 10 times.[14]
Brazilian citizens residing abroad may only vote for president and vice president.[15] Under the Equality Statute between Brazil and Portugal, Portuguese citizens legally residing in Brazil for more than three years may also register to vote in Brazilian elections.[16]
Candidates and political parties
All candidates for federal, state, Federal District, and municipal offices must be nominated by a political party. For offices to be elected by majority or plurality (executive offices and senators), parties may form an electoral coalition (coligação) to nominate a single candidate. The coalitions do not need to be composed of the same parties for every nomination, do not need to be maintained after the election, and are not valid for offices to be elected proportionally (deputies and aldermen).[17] Parties may also form a different type of alliance called federation (federação), which acts as a single party to nominate candidates for all offices in all locations, including those to be elected proportionally, and must be maintained with a single leadership structure over the course of the elected legislature.[18] Federations may also act as parties to form coalitions. For the 2026 election, the registered federations are Brazil of Hope (PT–PCdoB–PV), Always Forward (PSDB–Cidadania), PSOL REDE (PSOL–REDE), Solidary Renewal (PRD–Solidarity), and Progressive Union (Union–PP).[19]
For offices to be elected proportionally, each party must nominate candidates of each sex in a distribution between 30 and 70%.[17] Parties must also allocate their funds and broadcast time proportionally to the number of their candidates of each sex and race, with a minimum of 30% of funds for Black and Brown candidates.[20][21]
Procedure

Voting in Brazilian elections can only be done in person and only on election day, which is always a Sunday. There is no provision for postal or early voting. Voter registration must be done in advance, and each voter can only vote in one designated voting station, either based on the voter's registered domicile or at a different location that the voter must specifically request if planning to be there temporarily on election day. Voters must provide photo identification at their voting station before proceeding to vote.[22]
Voting stations are installed in all municipalities of Brazil, the Federal District, and Fernando de Noronha.[23] Most voting stations are in public schools.[24] In some sparsely populated areas, such as indigenous territories, the installation and use of voting stations requires extensive travel and logistics.[25] Voting stations are also installed in other countries, mostly in Brazilian diplomatic missions, for citizens residing abroad.[26]

Voting is done almost entirely on direct-recording electronic voting machines, designed for extreme simplicity. The voter dials a number corresponding to the desired candidate or party, causing the name and photo of the candidate or party to appear on the screen, then the voter presses a green button to confirm or an orange button to correct and try again. It is also possible to leave the vote blank by pressing a white button, or to nullify the vote by dialing a number that does not correspond to any candidate or party. Paper ballots are only used in case a voting machine malfunctions or in locations abroad with fewer than 100 voters.[22]
The electronic system is subject to extensive tests, including on machines randomly selected from actual voting stations on election day, witnessed by political parties to rule out fraud. After voting ends, every machine prints a record of its total votes for each candidate or party, which is publicly displayed for comparison with the results published electronically.[27] The system delivers the complete election results usually a few hours after voting ends, which is extremely fast for such a large population as Brazil. However, the system does not create a physical record of individual votes to allow a full recount.[28]
Voting stations operate at the same time in the whole country, regardless of their time zone: 9:00 to 18:00 UTC−02:00, 8:00 to 17:00 UTC−03:00, 7:00 to 16:00 UTC−04:00, and 6:00 to 15:00 UTC−05:00.[22] The unified voting time does not apply to voting stations for citizens abroad, which operate from 8:00 to 17:00 local time, ranging from 16 hours before to 4 hours after those in Brazil.[29]
Administration
Unusual in the world, Brazilian elections are administered by the judiciary.[30][31] The country has one Superior Electoral Court (Tribunal Superior Eleitoral, TSE), and each state and the Federal District have a Regional Electoral Court (Tribunal Regional Eleitoral, TRE), all headed by judges selected from other courts.[32] The electoral courts are responsible not only for judicial tasks such as ruling on disputes and potential violations of electoral law, but also for actually implementing the elections, such as registering voters and candidates, installing voting machines, counting votes, publishing the results, as well as issuing regulations and monitoring compliance.[30][31]
Presidential candidates
Confirmed candidates
| Party | Presidential candidate[33] | Vice presidential candidate[a] | Coalition | Free airtime[b] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Workers' Party (PT 13) |
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (campaign) |
Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) Vice President of Brazil (2023–present) Governor of São Paulo (2001–2006, 2011–2018) Vice Governor of São Paulo (1995–2001) Federal deputy for São Paulo (1987–1995) Mayor of Pindamonhangaba (1977–1982) |
Brazil Ready for More:
|
5min32s | |||
Mission Party (MISSÃO 14) |
Renan Santos | Aroldo Medina | Standalone party | N/a | |||
United Socialist Workers' Party (PSTU 16) |
Hertz Dias | Vanessa Portugal | Standalone party | N/a | |||
Brazilian Communist Party (PCB 21) |
Edmilson Costa | Cleusa Santos | Standalone party | N/a | |||
Liberal Party (PL 22) |
Flávio Bolsonaro (campaign) Senator for Rio de Janeiro (2019–present) |
Alfredo Gaspar Federal deputy for Alagoas (2023–present) |
Standalone party | 4min20s | |||
Christian Democracy (DC 27) |
Clariana Barão | Fabiana Torquato | Standalone party | N/a | |||
Brazilian Labour Renewal Party (PRTB 28) |
Leonardo Avalanche | Dalma Regina | Standalone party | N/a | |||
Workers' Cause Party (PCO 29) |
Rui Costa Pimenta | Antônio Carlos | Standalone party | N/a | |||
New Party (NOVO 30) |
Romeu Zema Governor of Minas Gerais (2019–2026) |
Eduardo Girão |
Standalone party | N/a | |||
(DEMOCRATA 35) |
Wilson Grassi | Suêd Haidar | Standalone party | N/a | |||
Social Democratic Party (PSD 55) |
Ronaldo Caiado (campaign) Governor of Goiás (2019–2026) Senator for Goiás (2015–2019) Federal deputy for Goiás (1991–1995, 1999–2015) |
Gilberto Kassab Minister of Science and Technology (2016–2019) Minister of Cities (2015–2016) Mayor of São Paulo (2006–2013) Vice Mayor of São Paulo (2005–2006) Federal deputy for São Paulo (1999–2005) |
Standalone party | 2min02s | |||
Avante (AVANTE 70) |
Augusto Cury | Júlio Delgado Federal deputy for Minas Gerais (1999–2000, 2003–2023) |
Brazil of Our Dreams: | 36s | |||
Popular Unity (UP 80) |
Samara Martins | Raquel Brício | Standalone party | N/a | |||
Potential candidates who did not run
| Withdrawn or declined to be candidates |
|---|
|
| Ineligible or disqualified candidates |
|---|
|
The following individuals expressed an interest in running but were ineligible or disqualified:
|
Campaign
In late-October 2025, President Lula da Silva announced the beginning of his re-election campaign, running for a fourth presidential term.[75][76] Some raised concerns about Lula's age, especially following a fall and brain bleed he suffered in December 2024.[76] Days after announcing his re-election campaign, Operation Containment, a police operation in Rio de Janeiro that resulted in the deaths of 120 people, occurred, with Valor International reporting that the operation was used by President Lula to support an image of being tough on crime.[77] Polls at the time from Quaest reported that 38% of respondents made crime their primary concern.[75]
In December 2025, Flávio Bolsonaro, a far-right senator of Rio de Janeiro and son of the imprisoned Jair Bolsonaro, announced his intended candidacy.[75][78] Shortly after his announcement, he suggested dropping out of the campaign in return for favors, saying "There's a possibility I won't go all the way, ... have a price for that. I will negotiate."[78] Many believed this meant that Bolsonaro was saying he would drop out of the election if his father was released from prison.[78] Bolsonaro later retracted this statement saying that after speaking with his father, he would continue with his campaign.[78]
Presidential debates
Times are in UTC−03:00.
First round
| No. | Date, time and location | Organizations | Moderators | Participants[c] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key: P Present A Absent I Invited |
Lula PT |
Bolsonaro PL |
Caiado PSD |
Zema NOVO |
Santos Missão |
Cury Avante | |||
| 1 | 23 August 2026, 20:00, São Paulo[79] | Bandeirantes, Cultura, Gazeta, Jovem Pan | Adriana Araújo, Eduardo Oinegue | TBA | |||||
| 2 | 14 September 2026, 22:00[80] | SBT, CNN Brasil, RedeTV!, Redevida, Exame, Metrópoles, Novabrasil, Itatiaia, Terra, Veja | TBA | I | I | I | I | I | I |
| 3 | 27 September 2026, 22:00, São Paulo[81][82] | Record, Estadão | Eduardo Ribeiro | TBA | |||||
| 4 | 1 October 2026, 21:00, Rio de Janeiro[83] | Globo | César Tralli | TBA | |||||
Congress
The results of the previous general elections and the current composition of the National Congress are given below. The party composition changed during the course of the legislature due to replacements of members, changes in their party affiliation, and mergers of parties. In 2026, all members of the Chamber of Deputies and two thirds of the Senate (two senators from each state and the Federal District) will be up for election.
| Party | Chamber of Deputies | Senate | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elected | Incumbent | +/– | Elected | Incumbent | +/– | Up for election[84] | ||||
| 2022 | 2026[85] | 2018 | 2022 | 2026[84] | 2026 | 2030 | ||||
| Liberal Party[d] | 99 | 97 | 1 | 8 | 16 | 6 | 10 | |||
| Workers' Party | 69 | 64 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 3 | |||
| Brazil Union | 59 | 52 | 8[e] | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Progressistas | 47 | 46 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 3 | |||
| Social Democratic Party | 42 | 48 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 11 | 3 | |||
| Brazilian Democratic Movement | 42 | 38 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 1 | |||
| Republicans[f] | 40 | 42 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 4 | |||
| Podemos | 18[g] | 27 | 4[h] | 1[i] | 3 | 3 | N/a | |||
| Democratic Labour Party | 17 | 9 | 2 | N/a | 2 | 2 | N/a | |||
| Brazilian Socialist Party | 14 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 1 | |||
| Brazilian Social Democracy Party | 13 | 18 | 4 | N/a | 3 | 3 | N/a | |||
| Socialism and Liberty Party | 12 | 13 | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | |||
| Avante | 7 | 5 | N/a | N/a | 1 | 1 | N/a | |||
| Solidarity | 7[j] | 4 | 2[k] | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | |||
| Communist Party of Brazil | 6 | 11 | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | |||
| Green Party | 6 | 6 | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | |||
| Democratic Renewal Party | 5[l] | 3 | 3[m] | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | |||
| Cidadania[n] | 5 | 2 | 2 | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | |||
| New Party | 3 | 5 | N/a | N/a | 1 | 1 | N/a | |||
| Sustainability Network | 2 | 3 | 5 | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | |||
| Christian Democracy | N/a | 1 | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | |||
| Mission Party | N/a | 1 | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | |||
| Total | 513 | 512 | 54 | 27 | 81 | 54 | 27 | |||
| Outgoing senators[84] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Federative Unit | Senator | Party | |
| Acre | Marcio Bittar | Liberal Party | |
| Sérgio de Oliveira Cunha | Social Democratic Party | ||
| Alagoas | Eudócia Caldas | Brazilian Social Democracy Party | |
| Renan Calheiros | Brazilian Democratic Movement | ||
| Amapá | Randolfe Rodrigues | Workers' Party | |
| Lucas Barreto | Social Democratic Party | ||
| Amazonas | Eduardo Braga | Brazilian Democratic Movement | |
| Plínio Valério | Brazilian Social Democracy Party | ||
| Bahia | Angelo Coronel | Republicans | |
| Jaques Wagner | Workers' Party | ||
| Ceará | Eduardo Girão | New Party | |
| Cid Gomes | Brazilian Socialist Party | ||
| Espírito Santo | Fabiano Contarato | Workers' Party | |
| Marcos do Val | Avante | ||
| Federal District | Leila Barros | Democratic Labour Party | |
| Izalci Lucas | Liberal Party | ||
| Goiás | Vanderlan Cardoso | Social Democratic Party | |
| Jorge Kajuru | Brazilian Socialist Party | ||
| Maranhão | Eliziane Gama | Workers' Party | |
| Weverton Rocha | Democratic Labour Party | ||
| Mato Grosso | Carlos Fávaro | Social Democratic Party | |
| Jayme Campos | Brazil Union | ||
| Mato Grosso do Sul | Nelsinho Trad | Social Democratic Party | |
| Soraya Thronicke | Brazilian Socialist Party | ||
| Minas Gerais | Rodrigo Pacheco | Brazilian Socialist Party | |
| Carlos Viana | Social Democratic Party | ||
| Pará | Jader Barbalho | Brazilian Democratic Movement | |
| Zequinha Marinho | Podemos | ||
| Paraíba | Veneziano Vital do Rêgo | Brazilian Democratic Movement | |
| Daniella Ribeiro | Progressistas | ||
| Paraná | Flávio Arns | Brazilian Socialist Party | |
| Oriovisto Guimarães | Brazilian Social Democracy Party | ||
| Pernambuco | Fernando Dueire | Social Democratic Party | |
| Humberto Costa | Workers' Party | ||
| Piauí | Marcelo Castro | Brazilian Democratic Movement | |
| Ciro Nogueira | Progressistas | ||
| Rio de Janeiro | Flávio Bolsonaro | Liberal Party | |
| Carlos Portinho | Liberal Party | ||
| Rio Grande do Norte | Styvenson Valentim | Brazilian Social Democracy Party | |
| Zenaide Maia | Social Democratic Party | ||
| Rio Grande do Sul | Luis Carlos Heinze | Progressistas | |
| Paulo Paim | Workers' Party | ||
| Rondônia | Marcos Rogério Brito | Liberal Party | |
| Confúcio Moura | Brazilian Democratic Movement | ||
| Roraima | Roberta Acioly | Republicans | |
| Chico Rodrigues | Brazilian Socialist Party | ||
| Santa Catarina | Esperidião Amin | Progressistas | |
| Ivete da Silveira | Brazilian Democratic Movement | ||
| São Paulo | Mara Gabrilli | Social Democratic Party | |
| Alexandre Giordano | Podemos | ||
| Sergipe | Rogério Carvalho | Workers' Party | |
| Alessandro Vieira | Brazilian Democratic Movement | ||
| Tocantins | Eduardo Gomes | Liberal Party | |
| Irajá Abreu | Social Democratic Party | ||
Opinion polls
Results
President
| Candidate | Running mate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augusto Cury | Júlio Delgado | Avante | |||
| Clariana Barão | Fabiana Torquato | Christian Democracy | |||
| Edmilson Costa | Cleusa Santos | Brazilian Communist Party | |||
| Flávio Bolsonaro | Alfredo Gaspar | Liberal Party | |||
| Hertz Dias | Vanessa Portugal | United Socialist Workers' Party | |||
| Leonardo Avalanche | Dalma Regina | Brazilian Labour Renewal Party | |||
| Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva | Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) | Workers' Party | |||
| Renan Santos | Aroldo Medina | Mission Party | |||
| Romeu Zema | Eduardo Girão | New Party | |||
| Ronaldo Caiado | Gilberto Kassab | Social Democratic Party | |||
| Rui Costa Pimenta | Antônio Carlos | Workers' Cause Party | |||
| Samara Martins | Raquel Brício | Popular Unity | |||
| Wilson Grassi | Suêd Haidar | Democrat | |||
| Total | |||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 158,745,463 | – | |||
Chamber of Deputies
| Party or alliance | Votes | % | +/– | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Act | – | |||||
| Avante | – | |||||
| Brazil of Hope | Communist Party of Brazil | – | ||||
| Green Party | – | |||||
| Workers' Party | – | |||||
| Brazilian Communist Party | – | |||||
| Brazilian Democratic Movement | – | |||||
| Brazilian Labour Renewal Party | – | |||||
| Brazilian Socialist Party | – | |||||
| Christian Democracy | – | |||||
| Democrat | – | |||||
| Democratic Labour Party | – | |||||
| Liberal Party | – | |||||
| Mission Party | New | |||||
| National Mobilization | – | |||||
| New Party | – | |||||
| Podemos | – | |||||
| Popular Unity | – | |||||
| Progressive Union | Brazil Union | – | ||||
| Progressistas | – | |||||
| PSDB Cidadania | Brazilian Social Democracy Party | – | ||||
| Cidadania | – | |||||
| PSOL REDE | Socialism and Liberty Party | – | ||||
| Sustainability Network | – | |||||
| Republicanos | – | |||||
| Social Democratic Party | – | |||||
| Solidary Renewal | Democratic Renewal Party | – | ||||
| Solidariedade | – | |||||
| United Socialist Workers' Party | – | |||||
| Workers' Cause Party | – | |||||
| Total | – | |||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 158,745,463 | – | ||||
Federal Senate
| Party or alliance | Votes | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Act | |||||
| Avante | |||||
| Brazil of Hope | Communist Party of Brazil | ||||
| Green Party | |||||
| Workers' Party | |||||
| Brazilian Communist Party | |||||
| Brazilian Democratic Movement | |||||
| Brazilian Labour Renewal Party | |||||
| Brazilian Socialist Party | |||||
| Christian Democracy | |||||
| Democrat | |||||
| Democratic Labour Party | |||||
| Liberal Party | |||||
| Mission Party | |||||
| National Mobilization | |||||
| New Party | |||||
| Podemos | |||||
| Popular Unity | |||||
| Progressive Union | Brazil Union | ||||
| Progressistas | |||||
| PSDB Cidadania | Brazilian Social Democracy Party | ||||
| Cidadania | |||||
| PSOL REDE | Socialism and Liberty Party | ||||
| Sustainability Network | |||||
| Republicanos | |||||
| Social Democratic Party | |||||
| Solidary Renewal | Democratic Renewal Party | ||||
| Solidariedade | |||||
| United Socialist Workers' Party | |||||
| Workers' Cause Party | |||||
| Total | |||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 158,745,463 | – | |||
See also
Notes
- Same party as the presidential candidate, unless mentioned in parentheses.
- Candidates from coalitions that include parties which passed the electoral threshold in 2022 are entitled to free advertisement on television and radio from 28 August to 1 October 2026. The block for presidential candidates occurs three days per week, twice per day, for 12min30s, of which 10% are divided equally among all candidates entitled to airtime, and 90% are distributed proportionally to the number of federal deputies of the parties in each candidate's coalition.[34] The times listed below are in minutes and seconds per block.[35]
If there is a runoff election, the two remaining candidates receive blocks of free airtime divided equally between them, from 9 to 23 October 2026.[34] - Debates broadcast on television or radio were legally required to invite all candidates whose parties or coalitions had at least five members in the National Congress based on the most recent election.[34] This table includes all candidates who met this criterion (Lula, Bolsonaro, Caiado and Cury),[35] as well as other candidates who have polled higher than at least one of them (Zema and Santos), whom the debate organizers may still choose to invite.
- Named Party of the Republic before 2019.
- 4 senators from the Social Liberal Party and 4 senators from Democrats, which merged to form Brazil Union in 2022.
- Named Brazilian Republican Party before 2019.
- Including 6 deputies from the Social Christian Party, which merged into Podemos in 2023.
- Including 2 senators from the Humanist Party of Solidarity and 1 senator from the Social Christian Party, which merged into Podemos in 2019 and 2023.
- Senator from the Social Christian Party, which merged into Podemos in 2023.
- Including 3 deputies from the Republican Party of the Social Order, which merged into Solidarity in 2023.
- Including 1 senator from the Republican Party of the Social Order, which merged into Solidarity in 2023.
- 4 deputies from Patriota and 1 deputy from the Brazilian Labour Party, which merged to form the Democratic Renewal Party in 2023.
- 1 senator from the Progressive Republican Party, which merged into Patriota in 2019, and 2 senators from the Brazilian Labour Party, which merged with Patriota to form the Democratic Renewal Party in 2023.
- Named Popular Socialist Party before 2019.
