Malden Preps For Runoff Elections At Brazilian Election Voting Site

MALDEN, MA — Malden will again host voting this weekend for Brazilian voters living abroad as the country’s presidential election heads to a runoff, the city of Malden noted on Tuesday.

Voting will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday at the Salemwood School at 529 Salem St. in Malden.

One of just two voting sites under the jurisdiction of the Consulate General of Brazil in Boston for this election, events in Malden are expected to draw high turnout from the combined pool of 26,000 eligible Brazilian voters in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Officials have urged voters to use public transportation to get to the Salemwood School if possible, though some parking spaces will be available.

Officials have separately warned those not involved in the voting process to seek alternate routes around the Salemwood School and Maplewood Square area to avoid what the city described as a "significant traffic and parking disruption."

Nearby Webster Street will only be open to local traffic during voting.

Upcoming voting comes a matter of weeks after voters cast their ballots in Malden in the first round of Brazilian elections earlier this month.

Voters are settling a narrow race between incumbent Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and challenger Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

da Silva, a former Brazilian president, won the first round of voting in Brazil on Oct. 2. Bolsonaro outperformed pre-election polling, though, to trigger a second round vote this weekend.

Previous promises of high turnout in Malden on Oct. 2 came to fruition as a large number of voters from across New England came to the city.

“The Consulate is continuously working with the City of Malden’s Mayor’s office to make the voting process fast, secure and smooth,” Malden said in its city statement on Tuesday.