The country has held presidential elections since 1891, spanning over a period of several different republican governments and national constitutions.
According to the 1891 Constitution, the right to vote was restricted to men over 21 years old who were not illiterate, homeless or enlisted-rank soldiers.
Since Rodrigues Alves, the President-elect, caught the Spanish flu and died before taking office, a new election was held in 1919.
A second election was scheduled for 1938, but it did not happen due to the 1937 coup d'état, under which another Constitution was written.
After Vargas was forced to resign in 1945, a new state was born under a democratic constitution written in 1946.