Brazilian Voters Abroad Top One Million for First Time

Overview

• Preliminary data published May 21 show more than 1 million Brazilians registered abroad for the first time and about 879,000 of those have regular status and are eligible to vote.
• Electoral authorities have received roughly 184,000 registration requests this year and the Zone Electoral office in Brasília still has about 68,000 cases to process before the June 9 deadline for new filings.
• The Justice Department and Itamaraty have approved funds and local measures such as added voting locations in Lisbon to expand capacity where demand is concentrated.
• There are about 2,400 overseas voting sections across roughly 140 countries but historical turnout at those sites averages near 50 percent because many voters face long travel to consulates or register primarily to regularize documents.
• The growth builds on longer-term migration: Itamaraty estimates Brazil’s expatriate population rose from about 3.1 million in 2010 to 5.1 million in 2024, a trend that has caused a more than 300 percent rise in overseas registrations since 2010.