Evangelicals, who already represent 31% of the Brazilian population, are being disputed by the top two, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and Bolsonaro (PL).
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The president has the majority of votes from this group in electoral polls. However, among women, in the general public, Lula is preferred. Therefore, according to analysts, the votes of evangelical women appear as a challenge on the eve of the first round of elections.
DOUBT
Sitting with her son and daughter-in-law waiting for the service to begin in an evangelical church in Guarulhos, in Greater São Paulo, diarist Heloísa Reis, 52 years old, says she doesn't know what to believe. “They say that Lula is going to close the church, that she is going to leave a bathroom just for boys and girls at the school, is that true?” questionaa report. “Bolsonaro made light of Covid, but he must have regretted it”, he adds.
She says she wanted to cancel the vote because she has lost hope in politicians, but she thinks she will end up choosing the president because at least “he knows the word”. First lady Michelle Bolsonaro is another reason to vote, she adds, “a strong, determined woman”.
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The fact that the president is not an evangelical is not a problem because this public understands that it is the woman who “guarantees the virtuousness of her family and her husband”, explains anthropologist Jacqueline Moraes Teixeira, one of the research coordinators, who is a professor at the Department of Sociology at the University of Brasília (UNB). “There is a suspicion of how Christian Bolsonaro is because of the things he says, but this Christian ethic reaches him because he is married to an evangelical woman”, she explains. This also helps the idea that Bolsonaro can be forgiven.
Christina Vital da Cunha, professor at Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) and researcher at ISER, says that as the government realized the importance of Michelle's communication with the electoral bases, she was revamped. “They transformed her into a portrait of the so-called virtuous woman, with curtoif modern, discreet makeup, clothes that are sometimes loose, sometimes elegantly fitted, a relaxed, happy, helpful, wise appearance,” he says. Women are the majority (60%) among evangelicals, according to a Datafolha survey carried out last year.
Evangelicals from the five regions of the country participated in the survey. The majority live on up to two minimum wages, are black or mixed race and have completed high school. This type of research is different from quantitative research, which asks about voting intentions. Qualitative listens to a specific group to identify behaviors and trends.
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VOTE OF CAST
Although it still exists, experts believe that the so-called staff vote has lost strength this year, which presupposes that the faithful vote for who the pastor determines. Religion continues to be a prerequisite for voting, but by identifying with a candidate who follows the same values – such as defending the family and condemning abortion, for example.
“There are many attempts by evangelical media leaders to impose their political perception on the faithful, but this does not result in a vote determined by them. Evangelicals who vote in line with leaders do not do so compulsorily, but rather based on their own understanding”, says Christina.
This week, pastors, evangelical influencers and right-wing politicians called for fasts and vigils. The requests were made with the argument that a possible PT victory represents a danger to the country and the Christian faith.
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(Estadão Content)
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