(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Few Brazilian adults would cast a ballot for a presidential contender with no religious beliefs, according to a poll by Instituto Sensus published in Veja. Only 13 per cent of respondents would vote for an atheist candidate.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Few Brazilian adults would cast a ballot for a presidential contender with no religious beliefs, according to a poll by Instituto Sensus published in Veja. Only 13 per cent of respondents would vote for an atheist candidate.
In addition, 32 per cent of respondents would vote for a homosexual candidate, 57 per cent would support a woman, and 84 per cent would vote for a black person.
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva—a member of the Worker’s Party (PT)—won the October 2002 presidential election with 61 per cent of the vote in a run-off against Jose Serra of the Brazilian Party of Social Democracy (PSDB). In October 2006, he earned a new four-year term, defeating PSDB candidate Geraldo Alckmin with 60.8 per cent of the vote in the second round.
In the 2006 election, two women were featured as presidential candidates. Heloisa Helena of the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL) finished in third place with 6.8 per cent of the vote, while Ana Maria Rangel of the Republican Progressive Party (PRP) garnered 0.1 per cent of all cast ballots.
On Dec. 31, Lula called 2007 "one of the best years for Brazil" and added: "We think that a lot of investments will happen now, mainly from the Accelerated Growth Program works. (…) The plan will start producing some effects that we want, such as improving living standards, creating jobs and generating wealth distribution."
Polling Data
Would you vote for a presidential candidate with the following characteristics?
|
Yes |
No |
Depends |
|
|
Black |
84% |
1% |
14% |
|
Woman |
57% |
12% |
29% |
|
Homosexual |
32% |
34% |
32% |
|
Atheist |
13% |
59% |
25% |
Source: Instituto Sensus / Veja
Methodology: Interviews with 2,000 Brazilian adults, conducted in December 2007. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
