At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Brazil

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Luiz Inácio LULA DA SILVA *
• Head of Government: President Luiz Inácio LULA DA SILVA
• 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. The President is elected by majority vote to serve a 4-year term for a maximum of two mandates. Presidential elections take place under a two-round majority run-off system.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 4-year term.
• In the Federal Senate (Senado Federal) 81 members are elected by plurality vote 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.

* 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.

Main Candidates in the Second Round of the Presidential race:

• Luiz Inácio LULA DA SILVA
  • Party: Workers' Party / (PT)
• Geraldo José Rodrigues ALCKMIN FILHO
  • Party: Brazilian Social Democracy Party / (PSDB)

Last Presidential election:

• The last presidential election was held on 6 October 2002 with a runoff on October 27. In the second round, Luiz Inácio LULA DA SILVA (PT) was elected with 61.3% of the vote against José SERRA (PSDB) who obtained 38.7%.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 188,078,227 (July 2006 )
• Registered Voters: 125,913,479 (June 2006 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 96,633,454 (2006)

·         Is Brazil a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (31 March 1981)

·         Has Brazil ratified CEDAW: Yes (1 February 1984)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 45 (Chamber of Deputies); 4 (Federal Senate) (following 2006 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 75 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Brazil a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Brazil ratified CRPD: Yes (1 August 2008)

·         Population with a disability: 28,211,734 (est.)