At stake in this election:

• 27 seats in Brazil’s Federal Senate (Senado Federal)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Dilma ROUSSEFF (since 1 January 2011)*
• Head of Government: President Dilma ROUSSEFF (since 1 January 2011)[i]
• 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.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 4-year term.
• In the Federal Senate (Senado Federal) 81 members are elected by plurality vote in multi-member constituencies 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.***

** There are 27 multi-member (3 seats) constituencies corresponding to the country's 26 states and the Federal District. 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. When two-thirds of the seats are to be renewed, each elector votes for two candidates. When one-third is to be renewed, each elector votes for one candidate.

*** There are 27 multi-member constituencies with district magnitude ranging from 8 to 70 seats, based on population.

Election Note:

On Sunday 5 October 2014, Brazil will hold elections for both chambers in the bicameral parliament: The Chamber of Deputies (Camara dos Deputados) and the Federal Senate (Senado Federal).[ii]

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Party of the Brazilian Democratic Movement / Partido do Movimento Democrático Brasileiro (PMDB)
  • Leader: Valdir RAUPP
  • Seats won in last election: 16
• Party: Democrats / Democratas*
  • Leader: Jose Agripino MAIA
  • Seats won in last election: 2
• Party: Brazilian Social Democracy Party / Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira (PSDB)
  • Leader: Aecio NEVES
  • Seats won in last election: 5
• Party: Workers' Party / Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT)
  • Leader: Rui FALCAO
  • Seats won in last election: 11
• Party: Socialism and Freedom Party / Partido Socialismo e Liberdade (PSOL)
  • Leader: Ivan VALENTE
  • Seats won in last election: 2
• Party: Brazilian Socialist Party / Partido Socialista Brasileiro (PSB)
  • Leader: Eduardo CAMPOS**
  • Seats won in last election: 3
• Party: Green Party / Partido Verde (PV)
  • Leader: José Luiz de França PENNA
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party: Progressive Party / Partido Progressista (PP)
  • Leader: Francisco DORNELLES
  • Seats won in last election: 4
• Party: Democratic Labour Party / Partido Democrático Trabalhista (PDT)
  • Leader: Carlos LUPI
  • Seats won in last election: 2
• Party:  Republic Party / Partido da República (PR)
  • Leader: Sérgio Victor TAMER
  • Seats won in last election: 3
• Party:  Communist Party of Brazil / Partido Comunista do Brasil (PCDoB)
  • Leader: José Renato RABELO
  • Seats won in last election: 1

*The Democrats were formally known as the Liberal Front Party/Partido del Frente Liberal (PFL)

**Mr. CAMPOS was killed in a plane crash in August 2014.

Last election:

• The last election to the Chamber of Deputies (Camara dos Deputados) and the Federal Senate (Senado Federal) in Brazil was held on 3 October 2010.[iii] Turnout was 63 percent with 111,038,684 of 135,523,622 people casting ballots.[iv] Results can be found here (Chamber of Deputies) and here (Federal Senate).

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 202,656,788 (July 2014 est )[v]
• Registered Voters: 135,523,622 (October 2010 )[vi]

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 102,664,070 (July 2014 est)[i]
• Is Brazil a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (since 1981)[ii]
• Has Brazil ratified CEDAW: Yes (1 February 1984)[iii]
• Gender Quota:  Yes: “Legislative Candidates Quotas” for both the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate[iv]
• Female Candidates in this election: N/A
• Number of Female Legislators: 44 (9%) of 513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (2010) and 13 (16%) of 81 seats in the Federal Senate[v]
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 79[vi]
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Ranking: 8^th out of 86 non-OECD countries (latest rankings are from 2012)[vii]