Mechanism that ensures the exercise of suffrage for voters outside their electoral domicile
The consolidation of democracy requires mechanisms that guarantee maximum participation by the electorate, reducing bureaucratic or geographical barriers that prevent voting. In Brazil, voting is mandatory for citizens between 18 and 70 years old, which imposes on the State the duty to facilitate access to the polls. In this context, voting in transit emerges as a fundamental tool of the Electoral Court to ensure that voters traveling on election day can fulfill their civic duty without the need to justify absence.
Unlike the definitive transfer of the voter registration card, this modality is a temporary and specific authorization for a given election, allowing the citizen to vote in a special section designated by the Regional Electoral Courts (TREs).
Definition and legal scope
Voting in transit is a voting modality provided for in Brazilian electoral legislation that allows voters to vote outside their electoral domicile of origin, as long as it is within the national territory. It is crucial to understand that this modality occurs exclusively in general elections (for president, governor, senator, federal deputy and state or district deputy).
This prerogative does not apply to municipal elections (for mayor and councilor). Therefore, in local elections, voters who are away from home will not be able to vote in transit, leaving them with the only option of justifying their absence. The legislation establishes that voting in transit is optional in the sense of its request, but, once enabled, the voter is obliged to vote in the destination section, being temporarily disconnected from his/her origin section.
History and normative evolution
The implementation of transit voting is relatively recent in Brazilian electoral history, reflecting the modernization of processes managed by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE). The modality was introduced by Law No. 12,034/2009, being applied for the first time in the 2010 general elections.
Initially, permission was restricted: voters in transit could only vote in state capitals. The objective was to test the logistics and security of the electronic voting system with data crossed in real time or synchronized. With the success of the first experiments and the growing demand for greater flexibility, the rules were expanded in subsequent elections. Currently, legislation allows the installation of transit voting reception desks not only in capitals, but also in municipalities with more than 100,000 voters, significantly expanding the scope of this right.
Requirements and operationalization
To understand who can request this modality and the necessary procedures, the electoral calendar stipulated by the TSE must be observed. The process requires that the voter has their regular status on the National Voter Register. The request must be made in person at any electoral office, within a specific deadline (generally between July and August of the election year).
When analyzing how voting by transit for president and other positions works, it is necessary to distinguish the location where the voter will be on voting day:
- Vote in transit in the same state: If the voter is outside their city, but within the same state as their electoral domicile, they can vote for all positions in dispute (president, governor, senator, federal and state deputy).
- Vote in transit in another state: If the voter is in a federation unit other than the one where their title is registered, they can vote exclusively for the President of the Republic.
The system blocks voting for other positions (governors and parliamentarians) when the voter is in another federative unit, as candidacies for these positions are limited to the state of origin. Once registered to vote in transit, the voter is prevented from voting in their original polling station, unless they cancel the request within the legal deadline.
Impact on democratic participation
The existence of absentee voting plays a vital role in reducing voter abstention rates. In a country with continental dimensions like Brazil, where labor and academic mobility is intense, many citizens are away from their homes on the dates of the elections. Without this modality, millions of votes would no longer be counted, weakening the representativeness of the final result.
In addition to mitigating abstention, the measure reinforces the legitimacy of the electoral process by prioritizing voting over justification. The logistics involved require rigorous planning by the Electoral Court, which needs to allocate specific ballot boxes and ensure that the electronic voting book contains the correct data of voters in transit, guaranteeing the uniqueness of the vote and the security of the system.
Voting in transit is therefore consolidated as an instrument of political inclusion and administrative efficiency. By adapting the electoral process to the dynamic reality of the population, the Brazilian State reaffirms its commitment to popular sovereignty, ensuring that geographic displacement is not an impediment to active participation in choosing the Republic’s representatives.
