Do abstaining voters hold the key to Brazil’s 2026 presidential election?

Sao Paulo, Brazil – The first time she voted in a Brazilian presidential election, in 2014, Larissa Campelo voted for centre-right Senator Aecio Neves. Four years later, in the next presidential race, she supported a centre-left candidate, former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad. But ahead of what is expected to be one of Brazil’s tightest presidential run-offs ever, the 30-year-old mother of one has decided she has had enough with politics. She is abstaining from the vote on Sunday, just as she did during the first round of the election on October 4. Voting is compulsory for most Brazilian adults. But Campelo is part of a historically large chunk of the electorate sitting out this year's presidential race. Some 33.