In Brazil, voting is mandatory. Yet in the presidential runoff on 25 October 2026, more than 4.1 million people went to the polls and voted for nobody. That is almost exactly the margin by which Lula won.
Here is what happened, how mandatory voting in Brazil works, and why high turnout is not the same as a real choice.
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On 25 October 2026, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Brazil's presidential runoff against Flávio Bolsonaro with 51.76 percent to 48.24 percent of the valid votes. That is a margin of about 4.37 million votes: clear enough to decide the race, but close for a country with well over 150 million voters.
In Brazil, voting is compulsory for literate citizens between 18 and 70. For 16- and 17-year-olds, people over 70 and citizens who cannot read and write, it is optional.
Anyone who is required to vote and skips it without a valid justification has to pay a fine. Without proof of voting or a justification, things like applying for a passport or a public-sector job can get complicated.
The idea behind it is simple: everyone takes part, so the result reflects the whole country. But mandatory voting only forces people to show up. It cannot force them to pick someone.
In the runoff, 1.12 percent of voters cast a blank ballot and 2.12 percent a null (spoiled) ballot. Together that is about 4.15 million votes, almost exactly the size of the winning margin.
Brazil's electronic voting machines even have a dedicated button for a blank vote. Typing in a number that belongs to no candidate makes the vote null. In other words: millions of people showed up because they had to, and then said "none of the above".
Then, on election day, the power went out at 349 polling stations in Minas Gerais. The electronic voting machines simply kept running on their batteries.
A judge extended voting by two hours. There was one catch: polling stations that had already closed stayed closed.
Brazil shows two things that matter for every election, from a national vote to an association's general meeting:
With online voting, members can vote from anywhere, an abstention option can be built into every ballot, and nobody depends on the lights in a single polling station. What matters is that the system is just as secure and secret as paper. Read more in our section on security and data protection in online voting.
Yes, for literate citizens aged 18 to 70. Voting is optional for 16- and 17-year-olds, people over 70 and citizens who cannot read and write.
About 4.15 million: 1.12 percent blank and 2.12 percent null ballots. That is almost as many as Lula's winning margin of about 4.37 million votes.
349 polling stations lost power. The electronic voting machines kept running on batteries, and a judge extended voting by two hours, but stations that had already closed stayed closed.
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