22 Murders Associated With Local Brazilian Campaigns

According to an ABC News report, there have been 22 murders in the past 60 days that are connected with local elections that will occur in Brazil this October.  Five percent of the candidates running for election have been the victims of threats or violence.   

410 towns have asked for help from the Brazilian Federal Police to combat the violence. The article says that most of the violence has occurred in the north and northeastern parts of the country, where disputes over land rights have been a recurring problem.

The following passage from the article gives more background about the problem:

"Ricardo Ismael of Rio de Janeiro's Catholic University agrees local elections in Brazil tend to be more violent than those for state or federal level office. 'Municipal elections introduce that local element, small towns with few police officers, where there are old political bosses who won't admit losing, and that go about defending their turf in an old fashioned way,' Ismael said."

In another story about elections in Brazil, there's a report that in more than 300 Brazilian towns, the number of voters exceeds the number of inhabitants. Apparently, this may be because a voter can be registered in a town in which he or she works or has some other strong bond, even if he or she does not live there.