Municipal Elections, 6 October 2024

Municipal Election 6 October 2024 

Natural Hazard: Floods April-May 2024 

The Civil Defense of Rio Grande do Sul issued an alert for storm danger in part of the state on 22 April 2024 warning about possible heavy rains, electrical discharges and flooding (G1 RS 2024a). In its statement, the Civil Defense reported that the Taquari River "has been receiving substantial inflows from the recent heavy rains in the state and is far exceeding its flood level" (G1 RS 2024b). It’s been reported that rainfall reached six inches in some parts of the region in 24 hours with the Guaiba River reaching a historic high of 5.04 meters (Gilbody Dickerson 2024a , Gilbody Dickerson 2024b). Moreover, a dam burst that triggered a two-meter wave has been observed (BBC News 2024) together with mudslides; leading to forced abandonment of livestock, and displacement of people in the affected area (Al Jazeera 2024). On 2 May 2024, local authorities in Rio Grande do Sul declared a state of emergency. Governor Eduardo Leite claimed that it was the worst climate disaster that the southern state ever faced (DW 2024). 

 While the most recent report from the Civil Defense shows that the floods have caused a total of 171 casualties, 37,812 people moving to shelters, 580,111 being displaced and the total of individuals affected reaching 2,390,556 in 475 municipalities, the OCHA report claims the overall damage being: 181 causalties, 32 individuals missing, 200,000 houses affected, 386,000 people displaced, 5,696 people in shelters in 497 different municipalities. (Correio do Povo 2024; UN OCHA 2024 ). 

It’s been noted that climate models have been predicting more frequent extreme rainfall in southern South America for decades (Mori 2024). Climatologists say that the storms were the result of a “disastrous cocktail” of global warming and the El Nino weather phenomenon (Al Jazeera 2024, Dias 2024). Both, El Niño and human-caused climate change made the heavy rains that led to the floods in southern Brazil about twice as likely to happen and up to 9% stronger (World Weather Attribution 2024). 

Impact on electoral processes 

The 2024 municipal elections were scheduled for 6 October 2024 with the second round taking place on 27 October (TRE‑PE 2023). In the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in-person services at electoral offices were halted because of the floods, leading to the suspension of biometric registration, which is mandatory for voters who have updated their electoral status, or obtained their first voter ID since the last elections (Agência Estado 2024).Many voters lost their ID documents due to flooding (Letigio 2024). Authorities stated that voters in Rio Grande do Sul without registered biometric data would still be able to vote during the municipal elections (Agência Estado 2024).  

There was also a discussion about the postponement of elections in some municipalities. However, the Electoral Court did not postpone elections in the flood affected municipalities but rather confirmed that there are sufficient electronic voting machines to replace any damaged by the floods (Agência Estado 2024). It has been reported that the electronic voting machines stored at the Regional Electoral Court (TRE) were submerged as they were located on the flooded parts of the building (Brígido 2024). Moreover, 248 polling sections/electoral subdivisions and 57 polling locations had to be changed because of flooding (TRE-RS 2024). 

Additionally, instances of disinformation designed to discredit the government were observed. While some articles, videos, and social media posts falsely claimed that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government blocked shipments of aid and medicine to the region, others alleged that the president deliberately delayed supplies to appear in person. There were also reports asserting that government rescue workers were withdrawing from southern Brazil, leaving residents without support. The disinformation has reached a scale that rivals what was last seen during Brazil’s 2018 Bolsonaro elections. It has been reported that the disinformation being circulated is intended to draw votes away from Lula and his allies during the 2025 municipal elections by misinterpreting the government’s response to the flooding. It has also been suggested that far-right groups are concerned about the scale of federal aid and military support being deployed, which is viewed as potentially shaping the electoral landscape. It has been noted that these concerns have contributed to the spread of counter-narratives (Fox 2024).  

Legal frameworks/ Changes in procedures 

The General Electoral Justice Inspectorate (CGE) stated that floods made it both physically and technically impossible to provide face-to-face services regarding biometric data collection It was decided that the biometric service in that state will be suspended until 23 May 2024, which is the deadline for regularization, change of data and issuance of new voter cards. The voter registration was extended in the state of Rio Grande do Sul by 15 days. Moreover, anyone in need of regulating their status or requesting the transfer of electoral domicile/updating their registration data could do so online. (Tribunal Superior Eleitoral 2024a). It can be noted that the temporary waving of the biometric registration and identification is a special voting arrangement that was tested during the 2020 election which were run amid a pandemic (Tauroco 2025). 

Voters from Rio Grande do Sul had a chance to confirm their polling station number and polling place by using various digital tools like a mobile app called e-Titulo, the Polling Place website or the JE Digital. They could also call Tribunal Regional Eleitoral do Rio Grande do Sul (TRE-RS), visit the office and seek possible assistance via What’s App (TRE-RS 2024).  

According to TRE-RS Resolution No. 405 of January 24, 2023, Chapter II, Section 2, Paragraph 3, if there is a need to replace any polling place, the Electoral Commissions may do so up to ninety (90) days in advance. Moreover, Chapter III, Article 36 of the Act states that: “If the use of electronic ballot boxes becomes unfeasible due to any problems, they may be replaced by canvas ballot boxes provided by the Electoral Registry Offices” . Nonetheless, such provisions were not observed in the 2024 elections.  Article 40 of the Act adds, that any additional unregulated cases are to be decided by the Presidency of the Regional Electoral Court of Rio Grande do Sul. (Tribunal Regional Eleitoral do Rio Grande do Sul 2023).  

Voter turnout 

In the 2024 elections, there were 155,912,680 registered voters (Tribunal Superior Eleitoral 2024b). The voter turnout for the first round of the 2024 elections was 78,29% (Suzin 2024; Tauroco and Martins 2025).