A poll conducted with Electoral Court candidate registration data found that since the start of self-declaration of race in 2014, this is the year with the most black candidates (black and brown) participating in the electoral process.

In 2022, 49.49% of people applying for political office declared themselves black, up 2.95% from 2018. However, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, the national scenario is not repeated.

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According to the website of the Higher Electoral Court (TSE), Rio de Janeiro has registered a total of 2,726 candidates for the general election to be held in October. There are a total of 1,268 blacks, representing 46.52% of the candidates, and 1,381 whites, representing 50.66%.

For the President of the Board of Trustees of the Brazilian Institute of Social and Economic Analysis (Ibase) and member of the Black Coalition for the Rights of Vania Sant’Anna, Rio de Janeiro is developing, albeit at a slower pace.

“It is important to say that the state of Rio de Janeiro has always nominated and elected black men and women who are also competitive in the polls – for positions on the council, in the allergen. [Assembleia Legislativa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro] and the Chamber of Deputies. Benedita da Silva, Jurema Batista, Carlos Alberto Cao Oliveira, Edmilson Valentim, Edson Santos, Marcelo Diaz. And many others who were not elected, but showed a strong response in the elections, as, for example, in the case of Lelia Gonzalez, ”comments the historian.

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According to Vaniya, the memories of the path traveled by all these political leaders inspire black youth to become more active in the electoral process, running for public office. However, according to the activist, it is important that political parties also take responsibility when presenting a structure of representative candidates for the Brazilian society.

“Political parties must do their part to strengthen black activists who are focused on fighting racism, discrimination and eradicating racial inequality in Brazil. The figure is surprising to many, but blacks make up the majority in the country, don’t they? So it makes sense that this percentage is at that level. The question arises, given this profile, what will be the results of the polls, ”he reflects.

women in politics

In terms of women’s participation in politics, the figures for the state of Rio de Janeiro are very close to the national figures, which show 67% of male candidates and 33% of female candidates.

In Rio, according to the TSE, 68%, i.e. 1856 of the names registered for participation in the general elections, are men and 32%, i.e. 870, are women.

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Compared to 2018, the participation of women increased by 1%. This year, as in 2018, there are more black women in the state of Rio than whites. In total, 449 black candidates submitted registrations to the electoral court, and 392 registered women who declared themselves white.

However, the number of white women and 24.8% of black women registered as candidates is down 28.47% from four years ago.

Source: BdF Rio de Janeiro

Editing: Mariana Pitass