Brazil’s presidential election is this Sunday, Oct. 4, and Brazilian voters on Martha’s Vineyard can cast their ballots at polling locations in Framingham and Malden.
Voters are asked to check their polling location through Brazil’s E-Título app before heading off-Island, and all voters who previously registered to vote in Hyannis are being directed to the Framingham polling station. On Sunday, voters should bring an official Brazilian photo ID or their e-Título to their assigned polling location.
According to the official Boston-based Consulate General of Brazil’s Instagram account, for voters registered to vote in Framingham, polls are located at St. Tarcisius Parish, 562 Waverly St., Framingham, and those registered to Malden should head to Salemwood School at 529 Salem St., Malden. Voting polls in both cities are open from 8 am to 5 pm.
All literate Brazilian citizens living abroad who are over 18 are required to vote in the presidential election, which also includes the vice president as a joint ticket, according to Brazil’s electoral authorities. Voting is optional for those between the ages of 16 and 18, as well as those more than 70 years old. Voters who are unable to vote can justify their absence through Brazil’s electoral system. Failing to fulfill or justify an electoral obligation can result in penalties in Brazil.
The jurisdiction of the Consulate General of Brazil in Boston has approximately 54,000 registered voters that are expected to vote this Sunday.
For some Brazilian residents of the Island, however, getting to the polls is not as simple as knowing where to go. Several Island residents interviewed by The Times said they don’t plan to vote in this year’s election for reasons that varied from concerns around immigration enforcement and wanting to avoid leaving the Island to not knowing until recently that they could vote from Massachusetts.
“I feel a bit uneasy going off-Island for the election because of the situation with immigration,” Kathleen, an Island resident, said in an interview conducted in Portuguese. (Last names of Brazilians living abroad were omitted from this article out of an abundance of caution.)
Oseias has lived on the Island for the past four years, and only recently found out that he could cast his vote from Massachusetts.
“I only found out about being eligible to vote from [Massachusetts] after registrations had closed. So I won’t be able to vote in this election,” he told The Times in an interview conducted in Portuguese. Brazilian citizens residing abroad can register to vote up to 151 days before the election.
Still, residents said they understood the importance of participating in Brazil’s election, and, in some cases, would have liked to vote if they had been better prepared or felt able to make the trip.
Simone is a notary public for and facilitates consular services to the Brazilian community on the Island. She plans to make the trip to Framingham this Sunday.
“As Brazilians, we’re always linked to our country of origin. Be it through investments, family and friends, or wanting to go back to our country of origin, we always want to see our country in good conditions,” Simone said.
She added, “Exercising our right to vote, to pick who will be spearheading the next few years, is very important to us.”
The first round of the election includes four prominent names in Brazilian politics, Ronaldo Caiado, Renan Santos, Flávio Bolsonaro, and sitting president Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva, often referred to as Lula. Bolsonaro and Lula, however, currently lead the polls. If a candidate receives more than half of the votes, they are elected, but if that threshold isn’t met, the two candidates who have the most votes participate in a second round, held on the last Sunday of October, Oct. 25 this year.
The incumbent Lula represents the left-leaning Partido Trabalhador (PT), often referred to as the Workers’ Party. A former union leader, Lula first served as president from 2003 to 2010 before returning to office in 2023. If he wins the election, this would be his fourth, nonconsecutive term.
Flávio Bolsonaro has been a senator representing Rio de Janeiro since 2019. The son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, he built his career in Rio, first serving as a state deputy before entering the Senate. His candidacy has put his family’s political movement, known as “Bolsonarismo,” at the center of this year’s election.
“I think this will be a very polarized election,” Kathleen told The Times. “People are really thinking about their self-interests and finances, more than anything else … most think that there should be a radical change in the government.”
