Mark Ruffalo and Leonardo DiCaprio encourage Brazilians to vote.
Key Takeaways:
- Mark Ruffalo and Leonardo DiCaprio have joined other celebrities in urging Brazilian voters to register well before the deadline on Wednesday.
- With the deadline nearing, DiCaprio used his official Twitter account to publish three messages, all in Portuguese, encouraging others to join.
President Jair Bolsonaro responded dismissively when Hollywood actors Leonardo DiCaprio as well as Mark Ruffalo, joined other celebrities in making a final push for Brazilian voters to register before the deadline on Wednesday.
A-listers in Brazil and abroad have recently used their celebrity and social media platforms to urge young, first-time voters to register to vote in the October presidential election, which is expected to pit far-right incumbent Bolsonaro against leftist Workers Party candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Anyone between 18 and 70 is required to vote in Brazil, and failing to do so results in a modest punishment. Young people have been at the core of nationwide get-out-the-vote campaigns. Those 16 and 17 can vote, but they are not required to.
The electoral office in Brazil claims to have received a record number of registration requests. Nearly 116 million voters cast ballots in the 2018 presidential election out of 147 million individuals who were eligible to vote.
DiCaprio, a prominent environmentalist, has previously clashed with Bolsonaro over the Brazilian president's ambitions to boost development in the Amazon jungle.
With the deadline approaching, DiCaprio posted three messages on his official Twitter account, all in Portuguese, encouraging others to register.
In one, he said, "Sixteen and seventeen-year-olds have the power to help construct Brazil's future," linked to a webpage with step-by-step directions on how to register. "You must register to vote by 23:59 today to exercise this power."
Ruffalo has also utilized social media, retweeting a series of short comedy videos created by Brazilian youths explaining how to register to his 8 million followers.
"Let's make this campaign a success! Democracy and the environment triumph. "Ruffalo used the trendy hashtag #TiraOTituloHoje, which translates to #RegisterToVoteToday, to write on May 1.
Young people in Brazil were also encouraged to vote by iconic actress Fernanda Montenegro and singer Anitta. On Twitter, she told her almost 17 million followers that she had discussed the matter with DiCaprio at the Met Gala in New York City this week and that the actor knew more about the environment than Bolsonaro.
"I'm delighted you spoke to a Hollywood actor, Anitta; it's every teen's dream," Bolsonaro said on Twitter Tuesday. "Every day, I speak with thousands of Brazilians. They are not well-known, but they serve as a compass for our judgments because no one defends and knows Brazil better than its citizens."
Bolsonaro also targeted DiCaprio, an opponent he has previously accused of supporting nonprofit groups that he claims are partly responsible for the Amazon fires, without offering evidence.
Bolsonaro stated to a group of supporters outside the presidential residence in Brasilia that "DiCaprio has to understand that the (World Trade Organization) president herself stated that without Brazilian agribusiness, the world might go hungry," adding that the actor must "keep his mouth shut instead of talking nonsense."
According to Betina Sarue, a project coordinator at Quid, a digital media agency focusing on democracy and social concerns, this year's attempts to increase youth turnout are due to a drop in participation in recent Brazilian elections.
Even though voting is compulsory for most of Brazil's population, the fine is so small — around 70 cents — that a growing number of people choose not to vote.