How to Vote in Brazil's 2026 Elections from the US

When are Brazil’s 2026 elections (1st and 2nd round)

Brazil’s 2026 general elections have the first round set for October 4, a Sunday, with a possible runoff on October 25, according to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE). In this election, the country chooses its president, governors, senators, and federal, state, and district representatives. If you live in the US and want to know how to vote in the 2026 elections while living outside Brazil, the short answer is: you take part, but only in one part of the vote, the election for president and vice president of the Republic. Further down, you’ll find the polling places in the US, with each one’s address.

Who needs to vote while living in the US

Living in the United States, you’re still required to vote if you’re a literate Brazilian citizen between 18 and 70 years old, even living abroad. According to the TSE, voting from abroad is optional only for young people aged 16 and 17, for those over 70, and for people who are illiterate. The difference from voting in Brazil is that, with an electoral domicile abroad, you only vote for president, not for the other offices. This rule applies to both native born and naturalized Brazilians.

Where to vote in the US in 2026

In the United States, where you vote depends on the consular jurisdiction your voter registration (título de eleitor) is tied to, not on the consulate closest to your home. In 2026, voting takes place at 14 locations across 11 jurisdictions, according to the Electoral Court’s list of polling sections abroad and the consulates’ own announcements. In many cases the ballot boxes aren’t at the consulate at all, but at schools, conference centers, and hotels. Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time in both rounds. Click an address to open the location in Google Maps.

In jurisdictions with more than one location, such as Boston, Los Angeles, and Houston, the section on your voter registration decides where you go. Before you leave home, confirm your exact location in the e-Título app, under “Onde votar”, or through the TSE’s polling place lookup, using your CPF or voter ID number, date of birth, and mother’s name. On election day, bring an official photo ID.

The Electoral Court’s spreadsheet also lists a third location in the Boston jurisdiction, Barnstable High School in Hyannis, but the consulate has announced only Malden and Framingham. If your e-Título shows Hyannis, check with the Consulate General of Brazil in Boston before you go. And if you can’t make it to vote, you can still justify your absence within the deadline, as we explain further down.

How to get or update your voter registration abroad

To vote through the consulate or embassy, you need a voter registration (título de eleitor) linked to the Foreign Electoral Zone. That applies to people who have never registered, to those who already vote in Brazil and want to transfer their electoral domicile, and to anyone who needs to fix a canceled registration, and the request is reviewed by the Electoral Justice, not by the consulate. We’ve already written a more detailed piece on why keeping your voter registration current matters abroad, worth reading if you haven’t sorted this out yet. Brazilians in the New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia area usually fall under the jurisdiction of the Consulate General of Brazil in New York, which publishes the electoral information for that area.

What documents you need to submit

The request requires an official photo ID, proof of residency abroad for at least three months, and, for men 18 and older, a certificate of completed or exempted military service (certificado de quitação do serviço militar). Proof of residency tends to be the point that trips up this request the most, because it needs to be in the name of the person requesting the registration and within the timeframe accepted by the Electoral Justice. If you need a formal document to prove your address in the US, we have a piece on proof of address letters that explains what’s usually accepted.

Dates and deadlines you can’t miss

• April 6, 2026: date recommended by the Electoral Justice to request enrollment, transfer, or regularization, leaving time for any additional documents that may be needed.
• May 6, 2026: final legal deadline to resolve any pending issue with your voter registration before the elections. After this date the registry closes and nothing can be changed until it reopens in November.
• October 4, 2026: first round of the elections.
• October 25, 2026: runoff, if needed.
• November 3, 2026: the voter registry reopens. Registering, transferring, and regularizing a título become possible again.
• December 3, 2026: deadline to justify missing the first round.
• January 8, 2027: deadline to justify missing the runoff, if there is one.
• May 4, 2027: expiration date for passports issued with a certidão circunstanciada while the registry was closed.

According to the TSE, more than 800,000 Brazilians are eligible to vote from abroad, but anyone who missed the May deadline has been left with an irregular registration at least until the registry reopens on November 3, which also affects issuing or renewing a Brazilian passport, as we explain below.

What changes after the elections: voter registration, justification, and passport

Didn’t vote? The justification has a deadline

If you don’t vote and don’t justify your absence on election day, you have up to 60 days after each round to submit a justification: until December 3, 2026 for the first round and until January 8, 2027 for the runoff, according to the TSE. This also applies to people who live abroad but still have their registration tied to a city in Brazil. Each round counts as a separate election, and a registration can be canceled after three elections in a row without voting, justifying, or paying the fine. For anyone who was already piling up absences, the two 2026 rounds may be exactly the ones that trigger the cancellation.

The voter registry reopens on November 3

The voter registry, closed since May 7, reopens on November 3, 2026. From that date, anyone with a canceled or irregular registration, or who never registered, can resolve their situation again, and the certidão de quitação eleitoral (electoral clearance certificate) becomes available again to those who regularize.

Why this matters for your 10-year passport

To issue or renew a Brazilian passport, the Federal Police requires you to be in good standing with the Electoral Justice. While the registry was closed, people with a canceled registration, or who never registered, could only get a passport by presenting a certidão circunstanciada, and a passport issued that way is valid only until May 4, 2027, instead of the usual 10 years, according to the Embassy of Brazil in Dublin.

In practice, the window between November 3, 2026 and May 4, 2027 is the time to regularize your voter registration, so you can then get a passport with the normal 10-year validity. This applies to people who got a reduced-validity passport this year and to those who put off renewing while waiting for the registry to reopen. If that’s your case, also see what renewing a Brazilian passport in the US involves.

How Pontal Brazil can help with this process

Pontal Brazil handles voter registration regularization and Brazilian passport renewal for people living in the US, including the documentation that usually holds these requests up, such as proof of residency, translations, and certified copies. Since an irregular voter registration and an expired passport tend to show up together, we take care of both in the same engagement and in the right order, so you don’t end up with a reduced-validity passport when you could have the 10-year one. Learn more about our Brazilian passport service or reach out to our team and tell us where things stand.