Natasha Madov and Michaela Ross
Brazil’s presidential elections captured global attention in late 2014. Events such as the sudden death of front running candidate in an airplane crash to a “second round” of elections when the first round wasn’t won by a sufficient margin created international speculation about the next leader for the world’s eighth largest economy. But another drama was playing out behind the scenes: an unexplained spike in voter turnout of over six million people.
Voting is mandatory in Brazil, beginning at age 18. But a mysterious swelling in voters from the 2010 elections to 2014 cannot be explained by immigration or aging population. Brazilian officials and political scientists cannot explain a spike in voter turnout of over six million people, primarily in the 25-69 age bracket.
Sources:
Already contacted:
Eduardo Leoni
Demographer
IBGE (Brazilian Instituto of Geography and Statistics, which is responsible for the Brazilian Census)
e.leoni@gmail.com
Cesar Zucco
Assistant Professor of Political Science at Fundação Getúlio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro
cesar.zucco@fgv.br
Others to Contact:
David J. Samuels
Professor of Political Science, University of Minnesota
Author of several books in Brazilian and Latin American politcs
612-624-9876
Frances Hagopian
Professor of Brazilian Studies and Government, Harvard University
Author of book on regime changes and politics in Brazil
617-496-1467
Matthew Taylor
Professor of Political Science at American University
202-885-2474
Media Inquiries: 202-885-5950
Brodwyn Fischer
Professor of Latin American History, University of Chicago
773-834-4608
Data:
For 2010 voters numbers and election results: http://www.tse.jus.br/eleicoes/eleicoes-anteriores/eleicoes-2010/estatisticas
For 2014 voters’ numbers and election results:
http://www.tse.jus.br/eleicoes/estatisticas/estatisticas-eleitorais-2014-resultado