Retired Elizabete Oliveira Gregório, 72, has been a Lula (PT) voter since the first time the former metalworker ran for president, in 1989. Born in a small town in Paraná, she says she came into contact with the current president's ideals when she moved to Guarulhos, in São Paulo.
"My husband always said a lot about how he was a worker, a poor person like everyone else," she says, admitting that, despite not understanding much about politics at the time, she repeated her husband's vote, in this and the following elections, believing in the trust he placed in the union leader.
Elizabete has lived in Ribeirão das Neves, in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, since the 1990s. With 330 thousand inhabitants, the peripheral city is one of the ten largest electoral colleges in Minas Gerais and has stood out, in recent years, as a key municipality for observing the comings and goings of the current polarization in the country.
Former PT stronghold that gave a wide advantage to Lula and Dilma Rousseff (PT) in the elections from 2002 to 2014, Ribeirão das Neves has shown a seesaw movement in relation to the latest political positions of the majority of its inhabitants and has followed, to the letter, the scenario of the national elections.
Jair Bolsonaro (PL) won there in 2018, elected in the second round with 59.59% of valid votes, and Lula regained the PT's lead in 2022, by a narrow margin of 50.63%. In this year's first round, the city chose Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), who scored 46.53% of the valid votes, compared to 43.93% for Lula.
Elizabete, who is evangelical, says she has never changed her opinion. She remembers the first time she went to the bank, to take out a loan and acquire a credit card, an achievement she dedicates to managing the PT member. "I believe that, if he won now, it would be as good as it was before," he says.
Lula was also the candidate chosen in 2022 by Marcelo Augusto, 23. He works in a clothing store and is currently taking a barber course. "It was my worst regret. The guy didn't do anything," he says.
In the first round of this year's elections, he voted for Flávio, a choice he intends to keep for the second. "It's not that he's my favorite candidate, but I think it's better to give him a chance, which is coming now, than to leave the PT, which has done nothing in these 20 years of government", he explains, also citing the repercussions of the Mensalão and Banco Master scandals.
Marcelo believes that political polarization in the city occurs because many people don't know why they vote, and cites his own example — he says he voted for Lula in the last election due to the influence of his mother, who sees the PT member as a good president.
"I believe that many people don't study and don't try to find out who they are voting for, and go along with other people", he says, defining himself today as an extreme right-wing person.
He justifies his position by stating that he is against some issues that he understands to be defended by the left, such as the issue of abortion and issues related to the defense of gender diversity and sexual orientation.
Marcelo is also critical of the PEC at the end of the 6x1 scale, enacted this Friday (16) after approval by a large majority in the Chamber and Senate. "An extra rest, yes, but I'm in favor of purchasing power. There's no point in someone having a day off and not being able to buy anything", he says.
In his opinion, a possible Flávio government has a chance of being better than the administration of his father, Jair. "Hopefully, because, if it isn't either, in four years, I'll vote for someone else. That's who I am."
He admits his desire to enter politics in the future and says that his main goals would be the fight against corruption and crime.
Flávio's choice is the same as that of freelancer Cynthia Miriam, 45, who claims to have never voted for the PT. "The Bolsonaro government seems to have left Brazil with money in the coffers, right? Who knows, maybe the same thing will happen?", he says.
Lael Chaves, 32, considers himself a centrist person and said he did not vote for anyone in the first round, a decision he claims to maintain for the second. “As a form of protest,” he explains.
He works on his bicycle as a delivery man for a delivery platform, and spoke briefly with the reporter during a break between orders.
“Politicians come in, politicians go out and the country is always worse off,” he says. "Inflation is always increasing and Brazilian purchasing power is decreasing, whether under left or right administrations."
He considers that the proposals of both presidential candidates act as a façade for the candidates to defend personal interests. "I am against the current political class, there is no one to represent me", he says, citing Lula, Flávio Bolsonaro and Renan Santos (Missão), who came fourth in the first round.
The justification is similar to the reasons given by law student Tainá dos Santos, 22, for voting invalid in all elected positions, in the Executive and Legislative branches, since she was able to participate in the process, at the age of 16.
"My colleagues have this opinion, always talking to me about the importance of politics and women's suffrage, but, despite caring about feminist issues, I never wanted to choose someone and I never bothered to," she says. "It's a normal opinion, mine."
She questions how her vote, 1 out of 158.7 million Brazilian voters, could influence the percentage achieved by candidates in the first round. "Would my vote change anything? I came to the conclusion that it would not and I intend to continue like this, voting null."
She says that her family is very involved in political issues. "Those sick voters, you know?", she says, however, stating that she doesn't know whether they lean more towards the PT or the PL.
"I never wanted to participate in these conversations, which always end in discussion. I don't like violence and these exchanges that are very invasive", says the student.
Other students held an event in favor of Lula's re-election on Thursday night (15) and spent the afternoon in the city's commercial center inviting the public to the demonstration.
The artist and social worker Nádia Nascimento, 37, was one of those who were leafleting and waving the PT flag on one of the city's main roads, confident in the current president's turnaround. "I'm here today, on my day off, because I believe in democracy."
She claims that the right has deconstructed Ribeirão das Neves, a city that, in her assessment, works through public policies for the population. According to Nádia, this has been happening since the election of mayor Junynho Martins, then by the PSC, in 2016. He was re-elected by the DEM in 2020. Today, the city is governed by Túlio Raposo (PP).
"In these elections, I think Neves unfortunately made a mistake. The population that voted for the right was a little ungrateful," she says.
This year, 45,450 people failed to vote in the first round in the city, which represents an abstention rate of 20.79%. Blank votes accounted for 3.05% of the electorate, while 3.58% canceled their vote.
Nei de Lima, 43, did not reveal his vote in this year's election, but says he voted for Bolsonaro in 2018 and for Lula in the 2022 elections, a choice that reflects the majority achieved by the candidates in the city in the respective elections.
"I voted for Bolsonaro because I thought there would be a change, the PT had already been in control of the country for a few years", says the app driver. "As there was no significant change, he voted for Lula again in the last election."
In this second round, he still doesn't know who he will vote for. From the last Lula government, he says he is dissatisfied with the value of the minimum wage and the high rates of femicide, which in the first quarter of this year reached a new record level. “We can improve on these aspects,” he says.
In his opinion, Flávio could represent a change compared to what is already in place. "But whether this change will be for the better we will only see later."
