ELECTIONS IN BRAZIL
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500 years of elections - Elections are not a recent experience in Brazil. The free exercise of voting was first established in Brazilian territory by its first residents, immediately after the arrival of the colonizers. It was a result of the Portuguese tradition of choosing administrators for the towns under the Portuguese domain. As soon as the Portuguese colonizers arrived at the newly found land, they carried out votes to elect those who would rule over the new villages and towns. The bandeirantes from São Paulo (explorers of the 16th-18th centuries), for example, went in their missions with the idea of voting and of being voted.

When arriving to the site where they would settle, their first act was to carry out elections for great guard regent. Only after this the towns could be founded, now under the empire of the law and order. These elections were carried out for local governments.