The state of Bahia will count 11,321,005 voters those entitled to vote on the occasion of the Brazilian General Elections 2026, according to data released by Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE). An analysis carried out by cross-referencing the TSE information with the results of the 2022 Census of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) highlighted a curious peculiarity: 23 municipalities in Bahia have a higher number of voters than residents..
The municipalities affected also include Muniz Ferreira and Elio Medrado, located in the region of Recôncavo Baiano, an area historically important for the culture and economy of the state.
According to the study, the municipality of Catolândia leads the ranking with an electoral body equal to 117.44% of the resident population. They follow Saubara (113.26%), Firmino Alves (111.44%), Muniz Ferreira (110.36%), Itanagra (109.99%) and Ibiquera (109.81%).
Why are there more voters than inhabitants?
Experts explain that the phenomenon is mainly due to the internal migratory movements. Many citizens move to other cities for work, study or better economic opportunities, but maintain their electoral domicile in their municipality of origin, where they continue to be registered as voters.
Added to this are the growing mobility of the Brazilian population and the progressive development of large urban centers, factors that accentuate the imbalance between the resident population and the electorate registered in small municipalities.
The situation is the opposite in large cities
In the main urban centers of Bahia, such as Salvador, Santana Fair, Victory of Conquest, Camaçari And Juazeiro, the opposite happens instead: the number of inhabitants exceeds that of registered voters, since these cities attract numerous workers and students from other municipalities who have not yet transferred their electoral domicile.
An improvement over 2022
The comparison with the 2022 elections shows a positive evolution. Bahia has in fact gone from 36 to 23 municipalities with a number of voters greater than the inhabitants, becoming the only state in the Brazilian Northeast to have recorded a reduction in this phenomenon.
The decrease suggests a progressive updating of the electoral registers and a greater correspondence between the actual place of residence of citizens and their electoral domicile, although it remains a significant phenomenon in many small municipalities of the state.