STORY-TRÅD·politik

Brazilian voters aged 70+ rise 43% in first round

The number of Brazilian voters aged 70 or older who cast ballots in the first round of the 2026 election rose by 43 percent compared with 2022. The increase was calculated by the Voto 70+ Movement in partnership with the Data8 research center, based on data from Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court. The researchers note that this growth contributed to an increase in voter turnout in the first round of the 2026 election, which reached 125.2 million, up from 123.7 million in 2022. Notícias relacionadas:Brazil’s Electoral Court seeks to reduce abstention in runoff.Elections 2026: About 158.7M voters to cast ballots across Brazil.In Brazil, voting is mandatory for literate citizens aged 18 to 69 and optional for illiterate citizens, those aged 70 or older, and young people aged 16 and 17. Over half of voters aged 70+ cast ballots In Brazil’s 2022 general elections, 14.89 million voters were aged 70 or older, and 6.13 million of them voted. In the first round of the 2026 election, held on October 4, 8.77 million people in this age group cast ballots, out of 17.25 million eligible voters. “This is the first time since 2014 that more than half of voters in this age group have turned out,” says Cléa Klouri, founder of the Voto 70+ Movement and co-founder of Data8. In absolute numbers, voters aged 70 or older cast 2.64 million more votes in 2026 than in 2022. By contrast, the number of voters younger than 70 who turned out fell from 117.59 million in 2022 to 116.51 million in 2026, a decline of 1.07 million. This occurred even though the total number of eligible voters remained virtually unchanged, at 141.56 million in 2022 and 141.49 million in 2026. A decisive electorate In an interview with Agência Brasil, Cléa Klouri points out that this voter base becomes even more important in a closely contested race and could decide the outcome of the election. “It’s important to highlight the power they have to tip the scales in this election. There are a lot of people in this group, and their votes help ensure that the election is democratic.” The Voto 70+ Movement also notes that voter abstention among those aged 70 or older fell by 9.7 percentage points, from 58.8 percent in 2022 to 49.1 percent in the first round of the 2026 election. Among voters younger than 70, the abstention rate rose from 16.9 percent to 17.7 percent over the same period.