Brazil officially opened the legal deadline for party conventions and candidate selections on Monday as the Superior Electoral Court set the election calendar in motion for the 2026 general elections, with more than 158.7 million voters eligible to cast ballots nationwide.
The Superior Electoral Court established that political parties and federations may deliberate on coalitions and select their candidates until August 5, the final date for formalizing nominations.
After this deadline, all names must be submitted to the Electoral Justice system, which will verify compliance with legal requirements to stand for office.
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Party conventions must adhere to strict regulations outlined in the Electoral Law (Law No. 9,504/1997) and Superior Electoral Court Resolution No. 23,609/2019. Among the requirements, political organizations must have duly constituted leadership structures in their respective electoral districts. Parties must also have governing bodies registered with the corresponding Regional Electoral Court, while federations must include at least one organization that meets these conditions in the jurisdiction where they participate.
Eleições 2026
Prioridade processual e força-tarefa de fiscalização começam nesta segunda (20/7). Regras do Calendário Eleitoral mobilizam órgãos para garantir decisões rápidas e combater ilícitos até a diplomação dos eleitos: https://t.co/M7MHqvkWOS pic.twitter.com/YtR9uVZFeR
— TSE (@TSEjusbr) July 20, 2026
To guarantee the validity of conventions, official documents -including meeting minutes and participant lists- must be uploaded to the External Module of the Candidacy System (CANDex). This information must be transmitted to the Electoral Court via the internet no later than the day after the event. Following registration, the Superior Electoral Court forwards the data to the Federal Revenue Service, which issues a tax identification number for each campaign. This process must be completed within a maximum of three business days.
The Superior Electoral Court has also ramped up its digital monitoring systems to prevent irregularities, including fraudulent registrations or forged party documentation, which have plagued past electoral cycles.
Lula Leads Early Polls
While the party machine focuses on procedural compliance, the political landscape is already taking shape. Early polling data places current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ahead of his main challenger, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who has been endorsed by former President Jair Bolsonaro as his political successor. Flávio Bolsonaro, a seasoned senator from Rio de Janeiro, has sought to position himself as the standard-bearer of the conservative movement that propelled his father to power in 2018.
Lula is seeking a third term after his narrow victory in 2022. His administration has focused on social inclusion programs, Amazon protection policies and reindustrialization, though economic challenges -including inflation and fiscal constraints- have tested his popularity. The President’s approval ratings remain resilient in the Northeast and among lower-income voters, but he faces headwinds in the agribusiness-heavy Midwest and South.
Voters will elect the president and vice president, governors and vice governors, two Senate seats per state, federal deputies and state or district legislators. The 2026 cycle is shaping up to be the most polarized since Brazil’s return to democracy, with Lula’s left-wing coalition facing a rejuvenated conservative opposition that has consolidated around the Bolsonaro name.
The Electoral Court also released an updated electoral roll on July 20, revealing that Brazil now has 158,745,463 eligible voters –an increase of more than 2.3 million people compared to the 2022 elections, when the registry stood at 156,454,011 citizens. This represents a 1.46% growth in the electorate.
Women continue to be the majority of voters, accounting for 52.84% of the electorate, compared to 47.15% for men, according to official electoral statistics. The gender gap in voter registration has implications for campaign messaging, as polling data consistently shows women favoring Lula’s social policies while men lean toward Bolsonaro-aligned candidates on security and economic liberalization.
The 4.8 million young voters who turned 16 since the last election represent a critical swing demographic, with campaigns already investing heavily in digital outreach on platforms like TikTok, Instagram and WhatsApp to capture this segment.
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