Brazil Election Day: 158.7 Million Eligible Voters, Long Queues, No Paper Ballots
POLITICS · BRAZIL
Live tonight
Follow Brazil’s vote count live
The official TSE count with every candidate’s share, the state map and what a runoff would mean, updated every 20 minutes from 4 p.m. ET (5 p.m. Brasília, 9 p.m. Lisbon).
Key Facts
- —The country Brazil election day was Sunday 4 October 2026. The first round chose a president, governors, senators and federal and state deputies.
- —What happened Polls closed at 17:00 Brasília time (20:00 UTC) on 4 October. The TSE, Brazil’s electoral court, said 158,745,463 people were eligible to vote.
- —The numbers By 15:30 the TSE had replaced 1,544 of its 499,248 voting machines (0.28%), Agência Brasil reported. No polling station needed paper ballots.
- —What it means for you Anyone still queuing at 17:00 could vote. Official results begin this evening; a presidential runoff, if needed, is set for 25 October (Agência Brasil).
- —Still open Turnout, abstention and every result. The TSE had published no counts when this report was written, and it contains none.
Brazil election day passed without major disruption on Sunday 4 October, according to the head of the TSE, the country’s electoral court. About 158.7 million people were eligible to vote in a first round that ended at 17:00 Brasília time.
The day brought long queues in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, storms in Paraná and a steady trickle of machine swaps. For the candidates and rules, see Brazil Election Explained Before Sunday’s Vote.
How the voting day ran
Polling stations opened at 08:00 and closed at 17:00 Brasília time, with local hours shifted in other time zones. Voters still in line at closing time received numbered tickets so they could vote, Agência Brasil reported.
Queues were the main complaint. At PUC-SP, the country’s largest polling site with 17,000 voters in 46 sections, some people waited more than an hour.
Valor reported anger on social media over long waits. TSE president Kassio Nunes Marques acknowledged queues in Rio and said power cuts had contributed, CNN Brasil reported.
1,544 machines replaced, no paper ballots
The TSE reported 421 machine replacements in the first two hours of voting. By its third bulletin, covering the day until 15:30, the total had reached 1,544.
That is 0.28% of the 499,248 machines deployed, with 50,038 more held in reserve. CNN Brasil, citing the same bulletin, gave 1,543 and said São Paulo led with 299 swaps.
At an early-afternoon briefing, Nunes Marques had put the figure at 1,121, or 0.2%. The court gave no reasons, though Agência Brasil said swaps usually follow operational faults.
Paraná had the most problems, he said, after storms cut power in 140 municipalities. Paper ballots, the legal last resort, were not needed anywhere.
What Lula and Flávio said at the ballot box
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva voted at about 09:15 in São Bernardo do Campo, near São Paulo. Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, Fernando Haddad, Marina Silva and Simone Tebet joined him.
Lula said voters must choose “between strengthening the democratic regime or barbarism,” Brasil de Fato reported. He added that “the people are sovereign” and that all Brazilians would accept the result.
His challenger, Flávio Bolsonaro of the right-wing PL party, voted around 08:00 in Vila Isabel, in Rio’s north zone. He hoped Brazilians would end an “era of backwardness,” Veja reported, and asked for “a vote of confidence” in the first round.
Courts call for respect for the result
Edson Fachin, president of the STF (Supreme Court), voted in Brasília and called secure, auditable elections “the motor of democracy,” G1 reported. In a message to Valor, he said Brazil “does not need a tutor” and that winners will be certified.
Nunes Marques said no report from the Federal Police or the Abin intelligence agency pointed to foreign interference. Feared deepfakes produced no significant incidents, he told reporters, according to Agência Brasil and G1.
That followed his pre-vote message, covered in Brazil Judge Warns Voters of Election Disinformation. Brazil’s Catholic bishops’ conference, the CNBB, asked for a “reconciled” country, Valor reported.
Incidents during the day
A 62-year-old man died after collapsing in a voting queue in Barra da Tijuca, Rio, the regional electoral court told CNN Brasil. A 68-year-old voter also died after falling ill at a polling station in Cupira, Pernambuco, O Globo and CNN reported.
By 13:00 the Justice Ministry had logged 313 electoral crimes and four arrests, mostly over illegal campaign material and last-minute canvassing. Candidate Romeu Zema took his phone into the booth; the Minas Gerais electoral court said it would look into it, Agência Brasil reported, and Valor said prosecutors had gone to court.
What Is Not Yet Known
Turnout, abstention and every count from Brazil election day were unpublished at the time of writing. Results start from 17:00 Brasília time, as explained in Brazil Election Results Start 17:00 Brasília Time.
It is not yet known whether a presidential runoff on 25 October will be needed. The causes of the machine swaps and a final tally of electoral crimes have not been released.
Sources: TSE bulletins via Agência Brasil (1,544 machines, 15:30), Agência Brasil (Nunes Marques briefing), Agência Brasil (electorate, hours), Agência Brasil (PUC-SP queues); CNN Brasil; CNN Brasil (Rio queue death); G1 (Fachin); G1 (Nunes Marques); Valor; Veja; Brasil de Fato (Lula); Brasil de Fato (Flávio); Poder360. All 4 October 2026.
This article was drafted with automated assistance and reviewed before publication. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief