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High abstention rates in municipal elections show discontent: Brazilian president

Xinhua, October 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

High abstention rates in the Brazilian municipal elections have shown discontent with politicians in general, Brazilian President Michel Temer said on Monday.

The discontent "cannot be restricted to party A or B," said Temer, adding that "it is a message to the Brazilian political circle, so that they can change their inadequate habits."

There are 35 political parties in Brazil and almost all of them have candidates in the elections.

A total of 25 million Brazilians, or 17.6 percent of all registered electors, abstained from voting in the Sunday elections, posting the record high rate of abstentions.

Rio de Janeiro recorded the highest abstention rate, with 24.3 percent, followed by Porto Alegre with 22.5 percent and Sao Paulo with 21.8 percent.

As voting in Brazil is mandatory for all aged 18-70, the voters who abstained from balloting will have to pay a small fine.

In Brazil's largest city Sao Paulo and some other cities, the number of electors who did not show up or who showed up but annulled their votes was bigger than that of people who actually cast their votes.

In cities where there will be a second round of elections -- those with over 200,000 inhabitants where no candidate managed to get over 50 percent of valid votes -- candidates will not try to win the electors to gain ground.

The second round of elections will be held on Oct. 30, and the results will come out in a few hours, given the country holds elections with electronic ballots. Endi