Brazil Elects a New Congress Next Week. Only 18% Rate the Current One Well
BRAZIL · ELECTION 2026
Key Facts
- —The country Brazil, with 213.6 million people and Latin America’s largest economy, votes on 4 October for a president, all 513 seats in the lower house and 54 of the Senate’s 81 seats.
- —The background Brazil’s Congress has grown more powerful over the past decade, largely by steering a rising share of the federal budget through lawmakers’ own amendments. Datafolha, one of the country’s best-known pollsters, tracks how voters rate it.
- —Why now The Banco Master bank scandal has shaken trust in Brazil’s institutions this year. With the vote a week away, Datafolha asked voters to grade both Congress and the Supreme Court.
- —What happened A Datafolha poll published on 26 September found 37% rate the work of deputies and senators bad or terrible, 40% average and 18% good or excellent.
- —The numbers Datafolha interviewed 2,002 voters on 22 and 23 September, with a margin of two points. In May the split was 37% bad, 43% average and 15% good.
- —What it means for you The next president will need the new Congress to pass anything, from tax rules to spending. The poll shows steady discontent, not a revolt against lawmakers.
- —Still open A rating of Congress as a whole does not show how people will vote for their own deputy or senator on 4 October, or which camp will control the new Senate.
More than a third of Brazilian voters think their Congress does a bad or terrible job, the latest Datafolha Congress poll shows. Fewer than one in five rate it good or excellent.
The survey lands a week before Brazilians choose a new lower house and two-thirds of the Senate. It also shows that lawmakers, unlike the Supreme Court, have escaped the worst of this year’s anger.
What the Datafolha Congress poll found
Datafolha interviewed 2,002 voters aged 16 or over in 125 towns and cities on 22 and 23 September. The poll was commissioned by the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo and TV Globo.
The margin of error is two percentage points either way, at 95% confidence. Like every poll published in the campaign, it is registered with the electoral court, under code BR-00304/2026.
Voters graded the work of deputies and senators on a scale from 1, excellent, to 5, terrible. The result was 37% bad or terrible, 40% average, 18% good or excellent and 6% unsure; rounding takes the total to 101%.
Almost no change since May
Datafolha last asked the question in May. Then, 37% rated Congress badly, 43% called it average and 15% rated it well.
The negative score has not moved at all. The positive share rose three points, a shift at the edge of the poll’s margin of error.
That stability is the news. In a year of scandal and a bitter presidential race, voters’ view of their lawmakers has stayed where it was.
Who is most critical
Men are harsher than women: 43% of men rate Congress badly, against 32% of women. Income divides voters even more sharply.
Among those earning over five minimum wages a month, above R$8,105 (about US$1,559), 51% rate Congress badly. Among those on up to two minimum wages, R$3,242 (about US$624), the figure is 30%.
The 2026 minimum wage is R$1,621 (about US$312) a month. Dollar figures use the central bank rate of 25 September, 5.1991 reais per dollar.
By region, the South-east, Brazil’s richest and most populous, is the most negative at 41%. The North-east is the least, at 32%.
Partisanship shows too. Among voters backing President Lula, 22% rate Congress well; among those backing his challenger, Flávio Bolsonaro, 15% do.
The Supreme Court fares worse
The same Datafolha wave found 47% rate the Supreme Court’s justices bad or terrible. That is the worst score since the question began in 2019; only 18% rated them well.
The Banco Master scandal has also reached Congress. Folha noted that police-extracted messages point to a friendship between the jailed banker Daniel Vorcaro and Senate President Davi Alcolumbre.
But the justices’ ties to Vorcaro weighed more heavily with voters, the paper concluded. Last week Datafolha found distrust of the court narrowly above that of any other institution, for the first time.
A powerful Congress few voters know
An August study by the Fundação FHC, a São Paulo think tank, found Congress growing stronger through budget amendments and informal rules. Power is concentrated in the presidents of each house, with weaker committees and less transparency, Folha reported.
Yet voters know little about who sits there. In June, 75% of Brazilians could not name a senator and 68% could not name a federal deputy, according to Folha.
The Senate is the prize this year. Only the Senate can remove a Supreme Court justice, and right-wing campaigns want a majority to push such cases, Folha notes.
Left-wing campaigns, in turn, are urging supporters to elect enough lawmakers to pass the agenda of a possible new Lula government.
What comes next
Brazilians vote on 4 October, and congressional seats are decided in that single round. The presidential race goes to a runoff on 25 October if nobody wins a majority.
The poll does not predict turnover. Voters can dislike Congress as a whole and still re-elect their own deputy, and 40% call its work merely average.
Nor does it signal a crisis of confidence in lawmakers comparable to the one facing the Supreme Court. The number to watch is the new Congress’s balance of power, which the presidential race alone will not settle.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Brazil’s Congress work?
It has two chambers. The Chamber of Deputies has 513 members elected every four years by proportional representation in each state, and the Senate has 81 members, three per state, serving eight-year terms.
How many seats are up for election on 4 October?
All 513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 54 Senate seats, two for each of Brazil’s 26 states and the Federal District. The other 27 senators serve until 2031.
Who is Datafolha?
Datafolha is one of Brazil’s best-known polling firms and belongs to the same group as the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo. This poll was commissioned by Folha and TV Globo and registered with the electoral court.
Is the Supreme Court rated worse than Congress?
Yes. In the same Datafolha wave, 47% rated the Supreme Court’s justices bad or terrible, against 37% for Congress. Both institutions scored 18% on good or excellent.
Sources: Folha de S.Paulo, Datafolha on Congress, 26 September 2026, g1, Datafolha on Congress, 26 September 2026, CNN Brasil, Datafolha on Congress, 26 September 2026, Agência Brasil, 2026 minimum wage of R$1,621, January 2026, Banco Central do Brasil, PTAX 25 September 2026 (5.1991 reais per US dollar). All retrieved 27 September 2026. Datafolha survey registered with the Superior Electoral Court as BR-00304/2026.
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