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 33.4 million Brazilian adults did not show up to vote in the first round, resulting in a 21 percent abstention rate, the highest for a general election since 1998.

“It’s my form of protest. I don’t want to dirty my hands with these candidates,” said Campelo, who lives in the Sao Paulo city of Araraquara.

“This isn’t apathy. It’s because I don’t feel there’s anyone qualified enough to earn my vote.”

But appealing to abstaining voters like Campelo may prove to be a path to victory in Sunday's run-off.