There is a runoff for president, governor and mayor (for mayor, only in cities with more than 200,000 voters) when no candidate gets more than half of the valid votes in the first round; blank and null votes do not count. The two with the most votes face off again. Senator, deputy and city councillor races have no runoff. In 2022, 12 states had a runoff for governor. In 2024, 51 cities had a runoff for mayor, 15 of them state capitals.
The rule
For president, whoever gets an absolute majority of the valid votes is elected in the first round; if no one does, the two with the most votes go to a runoff (Article 77 of the Constitution, in Portuguese). The same rule applies to governor (Art. 28) and to mayor in cities with more than 200,000 voters (Art. 29). In smaller cities, the mayor is chosen in a single round, by whoever gets the most votes.
President
Before 1989 the presidential election had a single round (in the database: 1945, 1955 and 1960). Since 1989, the elections with a runoff were 1989, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022; the ones decided in the first round were 1994, 1998 and 2026.
Governor, 2022
12 states had a runoff: Alagoas, Amazonas, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondônia, Santa Catarina, São Paulo and Sergipe. In the others, the governor was elected in the first round. See the 2022 runoff.
Mayor, 2024
51 cities had a runoff for mayor. Among them, 15 state capitals: Aracaju (SE), Belém (PA), Belo Horizonte (MG), Campo Grande (MS), Cuiabá (MT), Curitiba (PR), Fortaleza (CE), Goiânia (GO), João Pessoa (PB), Manaus (AM), Natal (RN), Palmas (TO), Porto Alegre (RS), Porto Velho (RO) and São Paulo (SP). See the 2024 runoff.
See also what the electoral quotient is, the rule for deputy and city councillor elections, which have no runoff.