The generation of rookie voters who want to dedicate their first vote to Lula

Richard da Silva is 16 years old, studies at a public institute in the center of Rio de Janeiro and dreams of studying “some psychology”.

When he was born, in 2006, another somewhat more famous da Silva, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, finished his first term.

Da Silva, a student, barely has memories of the president Lula, but he is determined to vote for him in Sunday's elections: “It is a way out of the misrule we are experiencing.

We need a president who knows the Brazilian people, ”he says on the phone totally convinced.

Da Silva is one of the two million young people between the ages of 16 and 18 who registered a few months ago to be able to vote in the October elections.

Brazil is one of the few countries in the world that allows adolescents to vote, who, unlike those over 18, are not required to do so.

In April this year, an awareness campaign on social networks, partly spontaneous, partly spearheaded by artists and celebrities, succeeded in mobilizing a generation generally quite removed from institutional politics.

The result was unprecedented and “impressive”, in the words of the electoral authorities.

The number of young people willing to vote increased 47% compared to the 2018 elections.

"Obviously I don't remember Lula's governments, but I see him very present in my family, in cousins ​​and uncles who managed to change their lives in a very drastic way during those years," he says.

He cites the example of her cousin Elza de Ella, who managed to study pedagogy thanks to the funding programs of that time.

She is now a teacher.

For him, it makes perfect sense that Lula's campaign has focused on

(nostalgia) for the past and on the promise of a happy Brazil again.

Young people show the screens of their mobile phones with the content they normally consume.Leonardo Carrato

Something similar tells Inês de Jesús Cassoma, 21 years old and a resident of Nova Iguaçú, on the outskirts of Rio.

She sure could have voted earlier, but she didn't.

She now confesses nervous.

“You have no idea how anxious I am.

My vote, like that of other young people, can and will be decisive for the future of Brazil”, she says.

Although she values ​​that the ideal would be to be able to place a black woman in the Presidency, "like Marielle Franco" (the councilor and activist assassinated in 2018), Cassoma identifies with Lula above all because of the policies that she implemented in favor of education. public.

She is the daughter of Angolan refugees who came to Brazil fleeing the war, and her father was able to study Sociology at the university thanks to a program to help refugees and immigrants from the Lulista years.

“That changed everything.

Cassoma regrets having lived through turbulent years: cuts, teacher strikes and a pandemic that made remote teaching in the poorest households clear as science fiction.

“Before Bolsonaro, public schools were already abandoned, but that has been strengthened.

The inequality between public and private schools in Brazil remains, there is total helplessness on the part of the Government”, she criticizes.

With the arrival of the pandemic, he had to postpone his plans to study Law or perhaps African History.

Instead, he set up Cassoma Beauty, a cosmetics brand specializing in black beauty, but he doesn't rule out resuming plans to study.

These young people consider that Lula, despite being a 76-year-old man, is aware of what is being debated in the world on issues of LGTBIQIA+ rights, anti-racism or climate change, for example, but above all they value policies in favor of access of the poorest to the public university implemented during the years in power of the Workers' Party (PT).

Racial quotas, for example, forever changed the once-elitist and majority-white colleges.

It is something that Lula often brags about at rallies and in interviews that connects him with this electorate.

For these young people, that kind of legacy weighs much more than the years in which the left-wing leader starred in the front pages and on television news for the corruption plots uncovered with Operation Lava Jato and his entry into prison.

His corruption convictions were overturned.

“I always thought that all those scandals were a blow, a strategy to crush him.

I don't think they affected him much”, says Da Silva, the young man.

Somehow, the idea prevails that Lula was the victim of judicial and political persecution that sought to remove him from power at all costs.

Others especially highlight his rejection of the criticism that Jair Bolsonaro launched against the transparency of the electronic ballot box system that has been in force in Brazil for 25 years.

They consider them a strategy to not recognize an eventual defeat.

According to a survey by the Datafolha institute on September 22, the age group where Lula has the most advantage over Bolsonaro is between 16 and 24 years old.

54% bet on him, 30 points more than those who prefer the far-right leader.

Another measurement from the end of July indicated that 70% of young Brazilians would not vote for Bolsonaro under any circumstances.

“The police are our main problem.

They come heavily armed and don't need it.

The residents are scared.

The favela is always the last place to be targeted by politicians.

Here they only come to win votes”. Marcos Vinicius Medeiros, 19 (assistant in a daycare center)Leonardo Carrato

“The country is in a very complicated political moment.

I decided to vote this year because it can be very important.

I hope that my vote can help make my country more equal in racial and social values.”

Ana Carolina Domingos da Silva, 22 (member of the evangelical church) Leonardo Carrato

“With all the polarization of the 2018 elections, I was 13 years old, but I already knew I was bisexual and Bolsonaro already had his homophobic lines.

I wanted to be able to vote, but I couldn't.

Brazil is the country where the most trans people are murdered and we have a president who encourages that, and made it public.

His followers are not ashamed to reproduce these speeches.

We are already seeing them kill others just for political convictions.

Now, in 2022, I am forced to register in order to vote to remove Bolsonaro from the Presidency.”Uriel Victorino, 17(Nursing student)Leonardo Carrato

“I already lost my cousin to police violence.

No family deserves this.

The police have to get out of the favelas.

Voting is important right now to improve the condition of residents here.

I have this hope, deep down in my heart, very, very deep down I have it.

I will vote for the favela.”Rayssa Brandão, 17(future Nursing student)Leonardo Carrato

“Oh come on, for God's sake, how can anyone not believe in electronic voting machines?

No way!"Amanda Sena, 20(activist for gender equality)Leonardo Carrato

“When my mother died and I saw what the political moment was like, I realized that now it was my vote that replaced my mother's.

He always voted for people on the left, blacks, women... He always voted for causes that defended us.

Because I have always been poor, I am black and it is something we need: representatives who are in our favor.” Richard da Silva, 16 (member of the Socialist Youth Union) Leonardo Carrato

"This speech by Bolsonaro about fraud is a bit of a joke. I think it comes from people who do not accept losing and try to disrupt the whole system. Electronic machines have been used for a long time and there has never been any problem. Why now?"Bhrenda Dias Machado, 18(student)Leonardo Carrato

“I decided to vote for the first time to try to elect indigenous candidates.

For me, by improving representation, we will have more strength on issues related to the rights of indigenous communities throughout Brazil.”Mayra Xavier Araujo Guajajara, 22(indigenous activist)Leonardo Carrato

“Of course I trust the electronic voting system.

It has always been like this.

I don't think there is fraud in the elections because Bolsonaro has won other times in the same way.

I think we live in a democracy and we will follow the usual protocol.

I hope it continues like this”.Yasmin Coutinho, 21(seller)Leonardo Carrato

“I do not consider myself a politically committed person, but I understand that my country is very polarized between Bolsonaro and Lula.

In fact, I registered to vote mainly because my parents pressured me and I still have their support, so there are certain things I do to please them.

The reason for voting is based on what they live, what they think, because they have more experience than me.

For example, my father is retiring now and I really have to vote for the best for him.”Gustavo Botelho, 17(student) Leonardo Carrato

“My family is very politically engaged.

For example, in 2014 it was your vote for president that was responsible for us moving up the social ladder and improving our lives.

Of course, some issues in the country have to be improved and my mother always told me: 'You have to vote and exercise your right.'

I think that by voting I am doing something, even indirectly, for the country.”Ayla Aparecida Lorena Seixas, 17(future medical student)Leonardo Carrato

“Electronic voting machines are much more practical and reliable.

I think it's mainly due to technology.” Vitor Batista Machado, 18 (application delivery worker) Leonardo Carrato

“I believe in the electronic voting system, because it has always been like that and there is no reason not to believe it.”Joselaine Vitória, 18(student) Leonardo Carrato

“The world will only change when we have quality public policies and I will vote this year because I want to contribute to the politics of my country.

I think it is very important that all our young people contribute to being able to elect our future rulers." Lorena Martins da Costa Nascimento, 18 (future Social Service student) Leonardo Carrato

“The fight for rights is something beautiful and that's where I fell in love with politics.

If I want to see changes, I have to act.

I'm going out to vote.

I keep encouraging people.

I like to show people how good it is to make a difference because some people still believe that voting makes no difference.”Emelly Santana Lima, 16(student) Leonardo Carrato

“I registered to vote because I think it is very important for youth to be present in democracy.

Youth is the future, it is the one that will be fighting to build a fairer society.

If we are absent, we cannot complain about what is happening.

We have to be part of this to really change the situation.”Helena Martins, 17(future law student)Leonardo Carrato

“I was able to vote in the last elections, but with the pandemic I couldn't register to vote.

I think it is important to vote, but in my opinion the capitalist system is not democratic and as a whole it does not work.

I really don't believe much in the way the world works, but I'm going to try to elect through my vote the people who are closest to making the world a better place for those who need it most." Clara Langer, 18 (US college student) Design) Leonardo Carrato

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