Brazil Counts Votes in 2026 Election Runoff
Listen to the story
Brazil is holding the second round of its 2026 presidential election, known as the runoff.
A runoff takes place when no candidate wins more than half the votes in the first round.
Vote counting, or apuração in Portuguese, is now underway across the country.
Results are being shown in real time, meaning people can follow the numbers as they come in.
One important source of results is the state of Minas Gerais, one of Brazil's largest states.
Vote totals for president in Minas Gerais are being updated live as counting continues.
Another result has come from a small town called Constantina, in Rio Grande do Sul.
There, votes were counted at the Escola Municipal de Educação Infantil Primeiros Passos.
This school serves as a polling station, a place where local people cast their votes.
The polling station belongs to electoral zone number 146.
An electoral zone is an administrative area used to organise voting and counting.
Election results are usually reported zone by zone before being combined at the state and national level.
This system helps officials and the public track the vote count accurately as it happens.
As more zones finish counting, the national picture of the runoff becomes clearer.
Brazilians across the country are following these updates closely, since the runoff will decide the next president.
News outlets, including those covering Minas Gerais specifically, are updating their coverage throughout the day.
Vocabulary8 words
- election
- a time when people vote to choose a leader
- runoff
- a second vote between the top two candidates
- candidate
- a person who wants to be elected
- vote counting
- the process of checking how many votes each person got
- apuração
- the Portuguese word for vote counting
- real time
- happening right now, as it occurs
- polling station
- a place where people go to vote
- electoral zone
- a small voting area used to organise elections
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Quiz
Answer key
1. Because no candidate won more than half the votes in round one 2. Electoral zone 146 3. In real time, as counting happens
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Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
Brazil is holding the second round of its 2026 presidential _____, known as the _____.
A runoff takes place when no _____ wins more than half the votes in the first round.
_____, or apuração in Portuguese, is now underway across the country.
Results are being shown in _____ _____, meaning people can follow the numbers as they come in.
One important source of results is the state of Minas Gerais, one of Brazil's largest states.
Another result has come from a small town called Constantina, in Rio Grande do Sul.
This school serves as a _____ _____, a place where local people cast their votes.
The polling station belongs to _____ _____ number 146.
As more zones finish counting, the national picture of the runoff becomes clearer.
Brazilians across the country are following these updates closely, since the runoff will decide the next president.
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