Democracia e informação: o voto nulo no Brasil

• Autor(a) principal: Adriana Campos Silva
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Outros Autores: Polianna Pereira dos Santos, Júlia Rocha de Barcelos
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFMG
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/1843/39688; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2871-6778; https://orcid.org/ 0000-0003-4140-8494
• topic: Democracy; Information; Vote; Democracia; Votação

This study intends to analyze a common misconception regarding null votes in Brazil, by which electors may end up basing themselves on false premises to second their electoral choices. It uses social media, official elections data and historical legislation, in order to better understand the origin of the misconception and its effects on the legitimacy of democracy. In Brazil, it is possible that an elector abstains from voting, votes blank or null, or votes for a candidate or party. The first three of these behaviors are defined here as “electoral indifference”. In these cases, the democratic principle requires that the voter is aware of the potential effects of his choice. Information is therefore essential, for the ability to intervene in political decisions and the extension of that ability to the widest range of adults are criteria for democracy that can only be reached through enlightened understanding.