At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Brazil

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Dilma ROUSSEFF (since 1 January 2011)*
• Head of Government: President Dilma ROUSSEFF (since 1 January 2011)[i]
• Assembly: Brazil has a bicameral National Congress (Congresso Nacional) consisting of the Federal Senate (Senado Federal) with 81 seats and the Chamber of Deputies (Camara dos Deputados) with 513 seats.

* The president is both the chief of state and head of government.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 4-year term.
• In the Federal Senate (Senado Federal) 81 members are elected by plurality vote in multi-member constituencies to serve 8-year terms.** In the Chamber of Deputies (Camara dos Deputados) 513 members are elected through an open-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

** There are 27 multi-member (3 seats) constituencies corresponding to the country's 26 states and the Federal District. One-third of the senators (27 seats) are elected after a four-year period, and two-thirds (54 seats) are elected after the next four-year period. When two-thirds of the seats are to be renewed, each elector votes for two candidates. When one-third is to be renewed, each elector votes for one candidate.

*** There are 27 multi-member constituencies with district magnitude ranging from 8 to 70 seats, based on population.

Election Note:

On Sunday 5 October 2014, Brazil will hold elections for president, the Chamber of Deputies (Camara dos Deputados) and the Federal Senate (Senado Federal).[ii] [iii] On 13 August 2014, presidential candidate, Eduardo CAMPOS of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), died in a plane crash.[iv] His running mate, Marina SILVA, became the PSB presidential candidate and has taken a slight lead in the most recent poll.[v] [vi] In case a candidate does not win 50 percent of the vote in the first round, a runoff will be held on Sunday 26 October 2014.[vii]

Main candidates in the electoral race:

• Candidate: Aecio NEVES
  • Party: Brazilian Social Democracy Party / Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira (PSDB)
     
• Candidate: Dilma Vana ROUSSEFF
  • Party: Workers' Party / Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT)
     
• Candidate: Maria Osmarina Marina SILVA Vaz de Lima*
  • Party: Brazilian Socialist Party / Partido Socialista Brasileiro (PSB)

* Ms. Silva replaced Eduardo CAMPOS after he was killed in a plane crash. She ran for president of Brazil in 2010, winning 19 percent in the first round of voting. If elected in 2014, she will be Brazil’s first black president.

Last election:

• The second round for the last election for president was 31 October 2010.[viii] Dilma ROUSSEFF of the Workers’ Party (PT) won 55,745,867 votes, defeating Jose SERRA of the Brazilian Social Demoracy Party (PSDB) who attained only 43,711,162 votes.[ix] Turnout was 73 percent with 106,563,671 of 135,753,295 people casting ballots.[x] Results for the second round can be found here and for the first round, held on 3 October 2010, here.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 202,656,788 (July 2014 est )[xi]
• Registered Voters: 135,523,622 (October 2010 )[xii]

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 102,664,070 (July 2014 est)[i]
• Is Brazil a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (since 1981)[ii]
• Has Brazil ratified CEDAW: Yes (1 February 1984)[iii]
• Gender Quota:  None for President. Yes: “Legislative Candidates Quotas” for both the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate[iv]
• Female Candidates in this election: 2
• Number of Female Legislators: 1 currently serves as president; 44 (9%) of 513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (2010); 13 (16%) of 81 seats in the Federal Senate[v]
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 79[vi]
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Ranking: 8^th out of 86 non-OECD countries (latest rankings are from 2012)[vii]