Brian Mier, teleSUR correspondent in Brazil, reports on the upcoming October 6th elections in the country, as the landscape is changing towards more inclusivity for African-descent voters. teleSUR
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00:00For centuries, Brazilians' black population has been marginalized in the political system,
00:05but thanks to the new law, times are changing.
00:09In Brazil, our correspondent Brian Mears has more.
00:13Fifty-five percent of Brazil's population traces its ethnic heritage to Africa, but
00:18historically this demographic has been woefully underrepresented in politics.
00:22Thanks to a 2020 court ruling on a law drafted by Workers' Party congresswoman and civil
00:27rights leader Benedita da Silva, however, the scenario is expected to improve on October
00:336th, when voters will go to the polls to elect 5,569 mayors and around 58,000 city councilors.
00:41We're the majority of the population, but we're a minority in decision-making spaces
00:47in the legislative and executive branches of the local, state and federal governments.
00:53So we've been trying to correct this.
00:56Implementing quotas requiring the political parties to allocate a percentage of their
01:00campaign funding and airtime to strengthen our candidacies is an issue of social justice.
01:062020 marked the first local election cycle in which political parties were required to
01:12allocate 30% of their campaign funding to Afro-Brazilian candidates, and the result
01:17was the highest percentage of black local elected officials in history.
01:21Currently, 44% of all city councilors and 32% of all mayors are Afro-Brazilian.
01:27It's a percentage that is still lower than their representation in the population at
01:31large, but the scenario is expected to improve on October 6th.
01:39The 2024 elections provide a crucial opportunity for black candidates to establish themselves
01:45and amplify their political influence, paving the way for them to seek higher office in
01:512026.
01:53Our progress is unstoppable.
01:59Brian Mier, TELASUR, Recife.