The number of women in the Brazilian lower house and the Senate will be the highest in history. In the former, the number of women elected rose from 90 to 109, a surge of 21 percent.

This outcome occurred despite a decline in the number of female candidates. In 2022, 3,317 women ran for the office of federal representative. In 2026, they numbered 2,820, down 24 percent.

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For the Senate, Brazilians elected twelve women to the 54 seats up for grabs – the highest since the military dictatorship ended, in 1985. In 2018, when two-thirds of the Senate were also up for election, eight women were elected.

Brazil has 81 senators in each legislative session. Each serves an eight-year term. Every four years, one-third or two-thirds of the Senate is renewed. As a result, the number of female senators will increase from the current fifteen to eighteen next year.

Far from equality

Despite the change, women remain a minority in both houses of Congress. In the lower house, women will account for 21 percent of the 513 representatives in the next legislative session. The coalition comprising the Workers’ Party (PT), the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), and the Green Party (PV) elected the largest share of women – 34 out of the 109 elected.

As for the Senate, the number of female senators starting next year will reach 22.2 percent of the 81 seats. Those elected this year will take office in February, with terms running through 2035.

The Federal District elected two women. Since it already has one representative, the Federal District is now the only unit of the federation with three female senators.

Agendas for women

The increase in the number of elected female lawmakers does not necessarily translate into policies focused on women, says Flávia Biroli, a professor of political science at the University of Brasília.

In her view, as the number of women in elected office increases, so does the diversity of their views, and some will advocate for patriarchal, rather than egalitarian, perspectives.

“You can have elected women representing economic views that are harmful to the vast majority of women. For example, you can have an elected woman – as is the case with Senator Bia Kicis – who voted against the law on equal pay for women and men.”

Black women

The number of black women elected has also risen, at least in the lower house of Congress. A survey conducted by the organization Mulheres Negras Decidem found that 15 black women were elected to federal Congress in 2026 – a 66.6 percent increase from 2022, when nine were elected.

The organization’s political coordinator, Tainah Pereira, celebrates this progress.

“It’s also interesting to note that the vast majority of these black women who are currently in the lower house and who were elected for the next legislative session are young women. So, we’re seeing a renewal of black women in leadership, and I think we can have high expectations for the work of these leaders who have now made it to office.”

The Senate, however, saw a setback. No black female candidate was elected. Benedita da Silva (PT), the first black woman to hold a seat in the Senate in 1998, lost her reelection bid in Rio de Janeiro. To date, only four black women have served as senators.

The president of Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court, Judge Kassio Nunes Marques, stated Sunday (Oct. 4) that no irregularities were found in the first round of the elections that could be characterized as foreign interference in the election.

At a press conference aimed at presenting an overview of the Electoral Court’s work on election day, he said that international observers who monitored the election confirmed its transparency and that it proceeded normally.

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“We did not experience any serious incidents, the weather-related risks [were] ruled out, and we did not receive any alerts from the various departments of the Superior Electoral Court regarding foreign interference. We did not find any evidence of intervention,” he stated.

Earlier, Federal Police Director-General Andrei Rodrigues confirmed that the body had opened an investigation into alleged foreign interference in the election.

Last week, the country’s Attorney-General’s Office called on the Federal Police and the Prosecutor-General’s Office to investigate alleged funding from the Donald Trump administration to meddle with the Brazilian elections and delegitimize the Supreme Court.

The move was unveiled after the UK newspaper The Guardian reported that the US government had allocated USD 1 million to promote a campaign against the Brazilian top court.

Flávio Bolsonaro (of the Liberal Party, PL) and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (of the Workers’ Party, PT) will go head-to-head in the second round of Brazil’s presidential election. The two candidates received the most votes in the first round, held this Sunday (Oct. 4), as per data from the Superior Electoral Court.

Flávio Bolsonaro finished the vote count in first place, with 47.03 percent of the valid votes, equivalent to 56,103,033 votes. Lula came in second, with 45.16 percent, or 53,870,724 votes.

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As of 11:21 p.m., 99.99 percent of the ballots had been tallied.

The presidential election is decided in a runoff when no candidate obtains more than half of the valid votes in the first round. The runoff is scheduled for October 25.

Flávio Bolsonaro

At a press conference following the announcement of the results, the presidential hopeful said the outcome showed that “Brazil wants change.”

“That’s my take on what happened today. I was very happy with the results across all regions. Nearly 56 million Brazilians – men and women alike – cast their vote of confidence in change. I was very happy with the number of Brazilians who went to the polls, did not stay home, and wanted this change,” he declared.

“I am happy about the real possibility that, in three weeks, Brazil will give a definitive answer that it wants a modern government, with fewer ministries. A government that will appoint at least four justices to the Supreme Court, who will not try to interfere in elections,” he added.

“I am the only candidate who has committed to ending re-election. I only need one term to put the Brazilian people at the center of my government, so that I can solve Brazil’s real problems. I want the opportunity to take care of Brazil, to take care of the Brazilian people.”

Lula

Brazil’s president and candidate for re-election gave a speech around 9:40 p.m. in an auditorium at the Renaissance Hotel, near Paulista Avenue in São Paulo.

Lula thanked voters for their support and said he had expected to win in the first round. He noted that the result was unexpected but that now, in the runoff, he would have the opportunity to show the public who the best candidate is.

“We’ve just learned a lesson about democracy in Brazil through the Brazilian people’s vote,” he said right at the start of his speech. “I’ll admit to you that I was convinced I was going to win the election in the first round. But I’ve thought that before,” he said. “But we have the second round, and the second round is the moment of truth. It’s time for us to show the true picture of Brazil today and the Brazil we want. So starting tomorrow, we’ll begin a new campaign,” he added.

Lula criticized his opponent, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, and said that in the runoff election, it will be possible to shed more light on the PL candidate’s background.

“On the other side, we have nothing but uncertainty, with a background marked by a shadowy past. There is nothing that points to a promising future for Brazilian society. There is no background on the father, no background on the son, and we don’t know if there will be any background on other relatives. It’s a shadowy background, with shadowy connections, with extremely serious suspicions, involving ties to militias, organized crime, and the murders in Rio de Janeiro,” he said.

The Brazilian Army coordinated the eighth edition of the Guardião Cibernético (“Cyber Guardian”) event from September 21 to 25, a couple of weeks prior to Brazil’s presidential election. The exercise took place amid warnings from experts as well as the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN) regarding possible foreign interference in the Brazilian election.

The event brought together 1,300 participants in Brasília and six other state capitals, including São Paulo, Recife, Curitiba, and Manaus. The drill involved some 300 organizations and representatives from 14 countries.

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Described as “one of the most comprehensive cybersecurity training exercises in the Southern Hemisphere,” the exercise simulated digital threats with the aim of fostering cooperation between public and private institutions in the event of cyberattacks that could affect essential services for the population.

“During the drill, scenarios involving complex and coordinated cyberattacks were simulated, allowing procedures to be tested, contingency plans to be refined, and solutions to be identified in order to enhance national resilience,” the army stated in a press release.

In addition to the Armed Forces, the initiative brought together government agencies, regulatory bodies, and operators of critical infrastructure in the energy, water supply, telecommunications, and finance sectors, among others.

Risks of cyberattacks

Last week, a report by ABIN published by Folha de São Paulo and confirmed by TV Brasil warned of the risk of influence or interference by the US in the 2026 Brazilian elections.

Prepared in August of this year, the document classifies the possibility of foreign interference as a “critical issue” and contextualizes the problem by stating that “reaffirming US hegemony in Latin America” is a priority for US President Donald Trump’s second administration.

Analysts heard by Agência Brasil have warned of the risk of cyber operations by the US or big tech companies aimed at influencing the general elections in October, which could destabilize information and computer systems.

On August 12, the White House issued a memorandum outlining a partnership with private companies for actions involving “access to such information systems without the owner’s or operator’s authorization or exceeding authorized access.”

This week, Australia reported a hack of a website containing the country’s public health statistics by OpenAI, the owner of ChatGPT, one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence companies.

The Superior Electoral Court found that the number of cases involving gender-based political violence has increased more than 11-fold in four years. In 2022, 15 cases were brought before the Electoral Court. As of September 2026, cases have reached 177.

Since 2018, the federal prosecutors have recorded 436 complaints of gender-based political violence. In more than half of the cases (221), this violence was of a moral nature. And in 40 percent of them (177), psychological violence was involved.

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Political violence against women can take many forms, ranging from intimidation and attacks on a woman’s honor to threats and murders. Cases such as that of Rio Councilwoman Marielle Franco, who was murdered in 2018 for reasons linked to her political activities, and the attacks suffered by Congresswoman Maria do Rosário in Congress in 2014, highlight the extent to which this type of violence can escalate.

Awareness

In an effort to combat this type of violence, the Superior Electoral Court and the Federal Prosecution Service on Tuesday (Sep. 22) launched a campaign dubbed Política é Substantivo Feminino (“Politics is a feminine noun,” in reference to the fact that the word “politics” follows the feminine gender in Portuguese grammar). The initiative aims to raise awareness among the public about the role of combating the various forms of political violence perpetrated against women.

Court Judge Estela Aranha explained the impact of this type of violence on Brazilian democracy.

“It [gender-based political violence] silences women individually. A woman thinks, ‘I’m going to leave politics,’ but it also affects the community as a whole, because other women who witness the violence think, ‘Why should I get into politics?’ You drive out those who are already involved as well as those who are thinking of getting involved. And this is serious, because democracy presupposes the political and electoral participation of all citizens – men and women alike – and women are being excluded from the debate,” she argued.

Gender and race

During the campaign launch, women’s rights and black rights organizations presented court head Judge Minister Nunes Marques with a letter expressing concern over the rise in political violence based on gender and race in this year’s elections and demanding effective measures to prevent further incidents.

The document states that, in recent weeks, social movements have received reports in various states from female candidates – especially black, lesbian, bisexual, and trans women – who have been threatened with death and sexual violence, had their addresses and family members’ information exposed, and suffered racist and LGBT-phobic attacks, persecution, intimidation, and physical assaults.

The text also emphasizes that gender-based violence does not affect all women in the same way. A study by the Marielle Franco Institute analyzed 77 cases from 2021 to 2025. Among the victims, 87 percent were black.

Women in elected office

Brazil is one of the countries with the lowest representation of women in Parliament. In a ranking of 184 countries, Brazil ranks 135th, with only 17.5 percent of women in Congress, trailing behind nations with less democratic regimes, such as North Korea and Burkina Faso.

At the local level, Brazil has over 700 municipalities with not a single woman in elected office, and only 16 percent of city governments are led by women.

Raquel Branquinho, coordinator of the working group on preventing and combating gender-based political violence at the Office of the Prosecutor-General for Electoral Affairs, says that Brazilian legislation is in line with international guidelines on women’s representation.

“The major problem to be addressed, however, is violence against these women,” she said.

More than just disillusioned with politics, Brazilian voters are staying away from the polls year after year because they feel exhausted and lonely. The finding comes from a survey conducted by Plataforma Avaaz with pollster Datafolha, released this week.

In this groundbreaking study, experts linked the lack of community ties and contact with nature to disinterest in politics, pointing to these factors as explanations for voter abstention.

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About 30 million voters – nearly one in three – did not vote in the last elections. The survey found that, in general, this abstention was driven by what it termed an “epidemic” of loneliness, mental exhaustion, and a dependence on technology.

“We discovered that the ‘disengaged’ are caught in a destructive cycle,” explained Nana Queiroz, director of Avaaz’s Desapocalíptica Project, who believes this group turns to TV and social media “as a kind of anesthetic for this exhaustion.”

She also pointed out that social media in Brazil keeps people in their own personal circles of users with similar opinions – in addition to fueling “a culture of hate.” In these cases, they feel more isolated, hopeless, or guilty for wasting so much time on social media or TV.

“When these people feel this way – guilty, exhausted, and isolated – they believe they lack the power to bring about collective change, and that is why they are stopping voting,” she argued.

The “disengaged”

Nearly half of Brazilians identified with this behavior (47%) were classified in the survey as “disengaged.” These are individuals who have stopped voting altogether or vote only rarely. Three in ten have given up voting entirely due to this lack of engagement.

Young people fit this profile the most. According to the data, young people aged 18 to 34 make up 44 percent of the disengaged group, signaling the need for action. Only two out of ten young people say they have a connection to their community and feel good about it.

Queiroz draws attention to grueling work schedules, such as the 6–1 shift (six days of work followed by one of rest), which reduce the time available for leisure and for building a social network.

Good living

To rebuild that connection, the recommendation is to develop what are known as “good living” policies. These are initiatives that also promote contact with nature, access to culture, leisure, and more accessible cities in general, Queiroz explains.

“Saying ‘good morning’ to someone at the bakery already has an impact on your level of happiness,” she noted.

Contact with the environment is also seen as restorative to mental health, especially in cases of anxiety and boredom among young people. Measures to curb digital addiction are also necessary.

“If you want to win these people back and get them to the polls, you need to create policies that change their real lives, so they feel that their vote has a real impact on their lives,” the specialist stressed.

The survey was based on a foreign methodology that looks at quality-of-life indicators less frequently examined in economically focused surveys – which tend to focus more on access to consumption, material comfort, and economic performance itself.