Indirect presidential elections were held in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

on 3 October 1966 through an

electoral college An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

system. It was the second election during the

Brazilian military government The military dictatorship in Brazil (), occasionally referred to as the Fifth Brazilian Republic, was established on 1 April 1964, after a coup d'état by the Brazilian Armed Forces, with support from the United States government, against presid ...

, with

Artur da Costa e Silva Artur da Costa e Silva (; 3 October 1899 – 17 December 1969) was a Brazilian Army Marshal and the second president of the Brazilian military government that came to power after the 1964 coup d'état. He reached the rank of Marshal of the Braz ...

as the sole candidate. Costa e Silva was elected with 294 votes from the ruling

National Renewal Alliance Party The National Renewal Alliance ( Portuguese: ''Aliança Renovadora Nacional'', ARENA) was a far-right political party that existed in Brazil between 1966 and 1979. It was the official party of the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from 196 ...

(ARENA).

Background

Presidential elections had been scheduled for 3 October 1965. However, nine days after the Congress declared vacancy of the Presidency, the Castelo Branco government published on 27 October 1965 Institutional Act no. 2 which, among its attributions, defined that the next President would be chosen by the

National Congress National Congress is a term used in the names of various political parties and legislatures. Political parties *Ethiopia: Oromo National Congress, original name of the Oromo People's Congress *Guyana: People's National Congress Reform *India: **In ...

and with a maximum of two candidates. Therefore, Castelo Branco, who was supposed to govern temporarily until 31 January 1966, extended his term until 15 March 1967, when the new president would replace him. There had been five pre-candidacies for the election scheduled for 1964: former president

Juscelino Kubitschek Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira (; 12 September 1902 – 22 August 1976), also known by his initials JK, was a Brazilian politician who served as the 21st president of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. Kubitschek's government plan, dubbed "50 years i ...

with slogan "JK-65, the time of agriculture" (), governor of Guanabara

Carlos Lacerda Carlos Frederico Werneck de Lacerda (30 April 1914 – 21 May 1977) was a Brazilian journalist and politician. Biography Born in Rio de Janeiro, Lacerda was the son of a family of politicians from Vassouras, Rio de Janeiro state. He was the s ...

, former governor of

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

Leonel Brizola Leonel de Moura Brizola (22 January 1922 – 21 June 2004) was a Brazilian politician. Launched into politics by Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas in the 1930–1950s, Brizola was the only politician to serve as elected governor of two Brazil ...

, former president

Jânio Quadros Jânio da Silva Quadros (; 25 January 1917 – 16 February 1992) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd president of Brazil from 31 January to 25 August 1961, when he resigned from office. He also served as the 24th a ...

and then-governor of

Pernambuco Pernambuco ( , , ) is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.5 million people as of 2024, it is the List of Brazilian states by population, ...

Miguel Arraes Miguel Arraes de Alencar (15 December 1916 – 13 August 2005) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician. He was mayor of Recife, State Deputy, Federal Deputy and three times Governor of Pernambuco. Birth Arraes was born in Araripe in the state ...

. All candidacies were aborted and the election never occurred. Following various cessations of political rights, politicians including Kubitschek, Lacerda, Quadros and Adhemar de Barros were proscribed after allegations of conspiracy and corruption. Once again, the National Congress of Brazil elected the president. The vice-presidential candidacy was linked with the candidacy of the presidency. Only two political parties were legal at the time. However, the opposition party did not put forward a candidate.

Results

References

Presidential elections in Brazil

Presidential Presidential may refer to: * "Presidential" (song), a 2005 song by YoungBloodZ * Presidential Airways (charter), an American charter airline based in Florida * Presidential Airways (scheduled), an American passenger airline active in the 1980s * ...

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