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How to vote

Polling day · 8h–17h Brasília · 158.745.502 electors in 2026

Six numbers,
one machine.

Voting is compulsory for literate Brazilians aged 18 to 70. On polling day you show ID at your seção, confirm your fingerprint and type six numbers into the urna eletrônica: federal deputy, state deputy, two senators, governor and President. The country has voted on machines since 2000; results are out the same night.

CF art. 14 · Who votes

Compulsory at 18,
optional at 16.

  • Compulsory

    Literate citizens aged 18 to 70: registration and voting are compulsory.

  • Optional

    Optional for those aged 16 and 17, over 70, and the illiterate.

  • Cannot register

    Foreigners and conscripts during compulsory military service cannot register (art. 14 §2).

Check: must I vote?

Compulsory Literate citizens aged 18 to 70 must register and vote, or justify their absence. CF art. 14 §1 I

Portuguese nationals with equal-rights status (CF art. 12 §1) can register; the checker leaves that case out.

Before polling day

The título,
the fingerprint, the seção.

What to bring

A photo ID,
a list of numbers.

  • An official photo ID

    Identity card (RG or the new CIN), driving licence (CNH), passport, work card, a professional council card, or a military ID. The original, not a copy.

  • Or the e-Título with your photo

    The TSE's e-Título app shows your photo once you are registered biometrically; then it is enough on its own. Without a photo in the app, bring a photo ID as well.

  • The paper título is optional

    The título de eleitor tells you your zona and seção, but you do not need it to vote. Phones are not allowed in the booth: leave them with the polling staff.

  • A cola, if you like

    A note with your candidates' numbers is allowed and recommended; there are six to type in a general election.

Polling day

From the queue
to FIM.

  1. 8hSection opens

    After the zerésima. Hours are the same in Brasília time everywhere.

  2. In the queueShow ID

    The staff check you in the section's roll; where you are registered biometrically you put your finger on the reader.

  3. In the boothSix votes

    Type each number, check the photo and name on screen, CONFIRMA. CORRIGE clears; BRANCO votes blank.

  4. FIMDone

    The screen shows FIM; you take back your ID and the proof you voted (comprovante).

  5. 17hPolls close

    Anyone already in the queue still votes. Then the BU is printed and the results sent to the TSE.

Res.-TSE 23.751/2026 · Hours

8h to 17h in Brasília,
whatever the clock says.

Since 2022 every polling station opens and closes at the same instant, 8h and 17h Brasília time. Where the clock is behind Brasília the day starts earlier; voters in line at closing time still vote. Abroad, consulates keep 8h–17h local time.

StateUTCOpens (local)Closes (local)Note
AC Acre −5 6h 15h
AL Alagoas −3 8h 17h
AM Amazonas −4 7h 16h Western Amazonas, on Acre time (UTC−5), votes 6h–15h local.
AP Amapá −3 8h 17h
BA Bahia −3 8h 17h
CE Ceará −3 8h 17h
DF Distrito Federal −3 8h 17h
ES Espírito Santo −3 8h 17h
GO Goiás −3 8h 17h
MA Maranhão −3 8h 17h
MG Minas Gerais −3 8h 17h
MS Mato Grosso do Sul −4 7h 16h
MT Mato Grosso −4 7h 16h
PA Pará −3 8h 17h
PB Paraíba −3 8h 17h
PE Pernambuco −3 8h 17h Fernando de Noronha (UTC−2) votes 9h–18h local.
PI Piauí −3 8h 17h
PR Paraná −3 8h 17h
RJ Rio de Janeiro −3 8h 17h
RN Rio Grande do Norte −3 8h 17h
RO Rondônia −4 7h 16h
RR Roraima −4 7h 16h
RS Rio Grande do Sul −3 8h 17h
SC Santa Catarina −3 8h 17h
SE Sergipe −3 8h 17h
SP São Paulo −3 8h 17h
TO Tocantins −3 8h 17h

TSE: voting starts and ends at the same time across the country ↗

The 2026 ballot · in the urna's order

Deputies first,
President last.

  1. 1 DEPUTADO FEDERAL Federal deputy 4 digits · or 2 for the party
  2. 2 DEPUTADO ESTADUAL State deputy 5 digits · or 2 for the party
  3. 3 SENADOR Senator, first seat 3 digits
  4. 4 SENADOR Senator, second seat 3 digits
  5. 5 GOVERNADOR Governor 2 digits
  6. 6 PRESIDENTE President 2 digits

In the Federal District the second vote is for a deputado distrital. Abroad the urna asks only for President. In 2026 two Senate seats were up in every state, so there were two Senate votes.

Each state's 2026 first-round candidates for President, governor and Senate, and its elected federal deputies (TSE).

  1. deputado federal
  2. deputado estadual
  3. Senador 1
  4. Senador 2
  5. governador
  6. presidente
São Paulo: the urna of 4 October 2026. Click the keys, or type digits, B (BRANCO), Backspace (CORRIGE) and Enter (CONFIRMA).

State-deputy candidates are not loaded: a 5-digit number there counts as a vote for its party, or null. Only deputies who were elected are on the federal-deputy list here.

Lei 9.504/97 art. 5 · Código Eleitoral arts. 106–108

Blank, null
or the party.

Only votes for a candidate or a party are valid. Blank and null votes count in turnout and nowhere else: they do not go to the leader, do not change the quotient and cannot annul an election.

voto nominal

Candidate (nominal)

Type a candidate's full number (4 digits for federal deputy) and CONFIRMA.

Counts for the candidate's list (party or federation) and ranks the candidate within it; it is in the quociente eleitoral.

  • Valid
  • In the quotient
  • Ranks a candidate

voto de legenda

Party label (legenda)

Type only the party's two digits (or a number with no candidate behind it but a valid party prefix) and CONFIRMA.

Counts for the list's seats and in the quociente eleitoral, but helps no particular candidate: the list's seats still go to its most-voted names.

  • Valid
  • In the quotient
  • Ranks no one

voto em branco

Blank (branco)

Press BRANCO, then CONFIRMA.

Not a valid vote since Lei 9.504/97 art. 5: it is in the turnout, but out of the quociente eleitoral and of every candidate's share.

  • Not valid
  • Not in the quotient
  • Ranks no one

voto nulo

Null (nulo)

Type a number that matches no candidate and no party (e.g. 00) and CONFIRMA.

Not a valid vote: in the turnout only. Null votes do not annul an election, however many there are.

  • Not valid
  • Not in the quotient
  • Ranks no one

Move the votes: Acre's Chamber race, 4 October 2026 (8 seats)

Turnout
481.844
Valid votes
462.485
Valid share
96,0%
Quociente eleitoral
57.811
Candidate floor (10%)
5.782

Quotient = valid votes ÷ seats, a fraction over one half rounded up (art. 106). A list wins one seat per full quotient; its candidates need 10% of it to take one (art. 108). Move the blank and null sliders: the quotient does not change. Starting values from the TSE's Acre file; the real quotient was 57.811.

The full seat allocation, step by step →

Código Eleitoral arts. 7 and 71

Can't vote?
Justify it.

Código Eleitoral art. 225 · Abroad

916.534 voters,
one office.

Brazilians abroad vote only for President and Vice-President (Código Eleitoral art. 225), in consulates and embassies on local time; their votes are tallied as the 'ZZ' unit. Brazilians living abroad register with their consulate (the título is transferred to the Zona Eleitoral do Exterior, ZZ) and vote in person at embassies and consulates; there is no postal vote. In 2026 they voted in 186 cities. Abroad, Lula took 47,57% in the first round and 53,86% in the run-off.

TSE: voters abroad ↗
Electors abroad, 2026
916.534
Share of the electorate
0,58%
Turnout in Brazil, run-off
80,78%
Run-off
25 Oct 2026

Accessibility

A machine you can
vote on by touch.

  • Braille and a raised dot

    Every key has its number in Braille and the 5 has a raised dot, as on a phone keypad, so the keys can be found by touch.

  • Audio

    Every urna has a headphone socket; polling staff provide headphones and the machine reads out each office and the number typed. Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) video guidance is shown on the screen.

  • A companion you trust

    A voter with a disability may bring a person of their choice into the booth, who may help them type the vote (Lei 13.146/2015, art. 76).

  • Accessible sections

    Voters with reduced mobility can ask the electoral registry, before the registration deadline, to be moved to a section on the ground floor with ramps and access; priority in the queue for the elderly, pregnant women and people with disabilities.

TSE: accessibility ↗

Checks on the urna

From the zerésima
to the boletim.

The urna is not connected to any network; results travel from each section on encrypted, signed media. Each step below is public and can be watched by parties.

  1. The year before

    Teste Público de Segurança

    Teste Público de Segurança (TPS)

    Since 2009 the TSE opens the urna's hardware and software to outside investigators, who try to break vote secrecy or alter results; flaws found are fixed and re-tested before the systems are sealed.

  2. About a month before

    Code inspection and signing

    cerimônia de assinatura digital e lacração

    Parties, the Bar (OAB), prosecutors, the Federal Police and other accredited bodies may inspect the source code; then they digitally sign and seal the compiled systems in a public ceremony at the TSE.

  3. Before 8h on polling day

    Zerésima

    zerésima

    Each urna prints a slip proving no votes are stored in it, signed by the polling staff and any party inspectors present.

  4. Polling day

    Integrity tests

    teste de integridade

    Urnas drawn by lot are taken from their sections the day before and, on polling day, vote under camera with paper ballots filled in by volunteers; the urna's total must match the paper.

  5. 17h, at the section

    Boletim de urna

    boletim de urna (BU)

    At closing each urna prints its result, digitally signed, with a QR code. A copy is posted at the section and every BU is published as open data, so anyone can re-add the national total.

  6. After the count

    Digital vote record

    registro digital do voto (RDV)

    Each urna also stores its votes in shuffled order, with no link to the voter, and the files are published for recounts.

The biometric share is a press figure. The hours and abroad figures are from the TSE's 2026 pages and results files; www.tse.jus.br refuses automated clients, so its service pages were not re-read for this page.