Elections in Brazil

Brazil elects on the national level a head of state — the president — and a legislature. The president is elected to a four-year term by absolute majority vote through a two-round system. The National Congress has two chambers. The Chamber of Deputies has 513 members, elected to a four-year term by proportional representation. The Federal Senate has 81 members, elected to an eight-year term, with elections every four years for alternatively one-third and two-thirds of the seats. Brazil has a multi-party system with a high effective number of parties and political fragmentation. Often no one party has a chance of gaining a majority alone, and so they must work with each other to form coalition governments.