Brazilian Presidential Elections Come to West London College

Brazilians living throughout the UK came to the West London College Hammersmith and Fulham campus today (Sunday 2 October) to vote in the Brazilian presidential elections. More than 34,000 Brazilians are registered to vote in the UK and many thousands turned out to cast their votes throughout the day. At the same time, voting was taking in Brazil and in 158 cities around the world. 

The Brazilian Consul General in London, Tarcísio Costa and many staff from the Brazilian embassy were present from early in the morning until well into the evening, as voting took place from 8am – 5pm. 

Whole families came to take part in the election, such as that of Isaac Silva (48) who is the manager of a metalwork firm and lives in Wembley.

Isaac said:

“For Brazil democracy is very important and we want to make the right choices for the future.”

Filipe (11) and his mother Carolina Monteiro (37) came from Tooting. Carolina said:

“I feel a very strong connection with Brazil and so it was important for me to take part in the election.”

The Brazilian Consul General in London, Tarcísio Costa said of the choice of venue:
“West London College is a very good place to host large events. There is a large outdoor area for people to queue, there are large and spacious rooms and it was possible to set up many voting booths in the gymnasium. We were able to have a very good dialogue with the College, which has an excellent staff team.”

Voting in the UK and countries around the world was taking place solely to elect the President. In Brazil, the President and Vice President are elected on a joint ticket in two rounds. A candidate who receives more than 50% of the total vote in the first round is elected. 

If the 50% threshold is not met by any candidate, the two candidates who receive the most votes in the first round take part in a second round of voting, scheduled for Sunday 30 October. Once again, West London College will be hosting the event.

Daljit Bains, Director of Business Development & Partnerships, oversaw the College’s preparation and organisation for the event. Daljit  said:
“Facilitating such a high profile event for the Brazilian embassy has been an enormous privilege and an exciting challenge for West London College. We are delighted to have been able to play our part.”

Milena Korneluk travelled from Kent and Hugo Batista from South East London to cast their votes. 

Brazil has 697,084 registered voters throughout the world and in total, Brazil has over 156 million registered voters, making the country one of the largest democracies in the world.
 
Watch the Brazilian Consul General in London, Tarcísio Costa, talking about the Brazilian elections at West London College.