The far-right bubble that has seen populist rightist figures elected across Latin America spilled over and flooded the ballot box in Brazil’s general elections held on Oct. 4, 2026 – fueled by a discontented and distrustful public. In spite of voting being mandatory in the country for literate citizens aged 18 to 70, a wave of disengagement swept across 33.4 million voters who did not cast a ballot — 21% of the electorate.
It was the highest abstention rate since 1998. We still need to investigate what produces bubbles and waves in contemporary politics, but I have a few tentative hypotheses about this process.
