1978 Brazilian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Brazil on 15 November 1978. The National Renewal Alliance Party won 231 of the 420 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 15 of the 23 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 81.7%.

They were the last elections held under the two-party system, as reforms were enacted in 1979 to allow a multi-party system to emerge in an effort to combat the growing popularity of the opposition Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB).

Electoral system

In 1977 the electoral system had been reformed, making the election of Senators indirect. As with the 1979 reforms, this was primarily done in response to the growth of the Brazilian Democratic Movement. The Senate election saw the MDB win only eight of the 23 seats, despite receiving 57% of the vote.

Results

Chamber of Deputies

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
bgcolor=Template:National Renewal Alliance/meta/color|	National Renewal Alliance	15,053,387	50.4	231	+28
bgcolor=Template:Brazilian Democratic Movement/meta/color|	Brazilian Democratic Movement	14,803,526	49.6	191	+30
Invalid/blank votes		7,770,910	–	–	–
Total		37,627,823	100	422	+58
Registered voters/turnout		46,985,466	80.1	–	–
Source: Nohlen

Senate

Party		Votes	%	Seats
bgcolor=Template:Brazilian Democratic Movement/meta/color|	Brazilian Democratic Movement	17,432,948	57.1	8
bgcolor=Template:National Renewal Alliance/meta/color|	National Renewal Alliance	13,116,194	42.9	15
Invalid/blank votes		6,952,139	–	–
Total		37,501,281	100	23
Registered voters/turnout		45,864,901	81.8	–
Source: Nohlen