- Bolsonaro to face off against Haddad in second round voting. Hard-right candidate Congressman Jair Bolsonaro will face off against leftist Workers’ Party (PT) nominee Fernando Haddad in a run-off election for president on October 28. In first-round voting Sunday, Bolsonaro obtained 46% of the vote against 29% for Haddad. Others trailed badly. (see more)
- Percentage of voter no-shows highest since 2002. Some 20.23% of eligible voters failed to turn up at the polls Sunday, the highest percentage of no-shows in a Brazilian election since 2002, according to elections officials. Voting in Brazil is mandatory. No-shows must pay a small fine and remain, temporary, ineligible for documents such as driver’s licenses and passports. Political scientists said the low turnout was one of the consequences of Brazil’s current mood of cynicism toward politics and politicians. (see more)
- Major political figures big losers in Senate races. Sunday’s elections ended in defeat for a number of major political figures. Former President Dilma Rousseff failed to win a Senate seat from her home state of Minas Gerais. Senate President Eunício Oliveira was defeated for re-election, as was government Senate leader Romero Jucá. Former cabinet ministers Edison Lobão and Cristovam Buarque went down to defeat. Former long-time Senator from São Paulo Eduardo Suplicy failed in a come-back effort. In some cases, the powerful senators were defeated by little known opponents. The pattern was part of Brazil’s move away from traditional politics and politicians. (see more)