The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has launched a campaign to encourage 16 and 17-year-old adolescents in Brazil to register to vote.
Those who are 15 years old and will turn 16 by the first round of the 2026 elections, scheduled for October 4, can also apply for the document.
Brazil has 5.8 million adolescents aged 16 to 17. As of February, according to data from the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), nearly 1.8 million adolescents had registered to vote. This indicates that only two out of every ten eligible adolescents are registered to vote.
Voting in this age group is optional and not mandatory.
“Registering to vote is the first step to ensuring that adolescents’ demands are considered in the October elections. And there’s no one better than the adolescents themselves to mobilize their peers about the importance of participating in the country’s democratic process,” emphasizes Gabriela Mora, a specialist in Adolescent Development and Participation at UNICEF.
In partnership with the TSE, UNICEF will promote the initiative throughout April on social media and other communication channels.
UNICEF will also launch a digital contest that will reward groups of adolescents who successfully encourage more young people to register to vote in their regions. The contest will involve Adolescent Citizenship Centers (NUCAs), which are present in over 2,300 municipalities and linked to the United Nations fund.
According to TSE data (February 2026), cited by UNICEF, the states of Rondônia, Tocantins, and Piauí have the highest number of adolescents eligible to vote in October, with 40.4%, 39.2%, and 36.7% of the total, respectively. Meanwhile, the Federal District, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro have the lowest percentages.
The deadline to register or regularize voter registration is May 6.
Voter registration and voting are mandatory for Brazilian citizens aged 18 and over and optional for illiterate individuals, those over 70, and young people aged 16 and 17. Foreigners and citizens in mandatory military service cannot register.
Source: Agência Brasil.
Original published at O Cafezinho.