Brazil Elections: At Least 20,500 Candidates Register for 2026 Polls

Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) has released preliminary figures indicating that at least 20,496 candidates will vie for positions in the 2026 general elections. This number, based on data updated Sunday afternoon, includes hopefuls for president, governor, senator, and federal, state, and district representative seats.

The official deadline for candidate registration passed Saturday evening, but the TSE noted that its systems are still processing the influx of applications. "Regional Electoral Courts may still accept and process these requests. Only after this procedure will the registrations be reflected in DivulgaCandContas and the Electoral Justice databases," the court stated in a release. This means the final count could continue to rise in the coming days.

In comparison, the 2022 and 2018 general elections saw approximately 29,000 candidates each. The current figures encompass all submitted registration requests before judicial review. So far, 13 presidential candidates, 195 gubernatorial candidates, 315 senatorial candidates, 7,620 federal deputy candidates, and 11,507 state and district deputy candidates have been registered.

Several prominent political figures made last-minute filings. Pablo Marçal, despite being declared ineligible, secured a preliminary court order in São Paulo to join the PRTB party, enabling him to submit a presidential candidacy request. His ability to run hinges on overturning his current ineligibility ruling. Former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro and Senator Cleitinho also finalized their registrations on the deadline day. Michelle will seek a Senate seat, while Cleitinho is running for governor. Flávio Bolsonaro, who is polling second for the presidency, submitted his request only on Thursday, after a decision from the TSE president allowed him to rejoin the PL party.

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The parties and candidates presented the registration requests within the legal deadline, but the Regional Electoral Courts may still accept and process these requests. Only after this procedure will the registrations be reflected in DivulgaCandContas and the Electoral Justice databases. For this reason, the numbers may continue to be updated in the coming days.