The article shows the impact of corruption scandals on the Brazilian voter’s choice in the 2006 Presidential election and it analyses if those individuals who have considered corruption the main Brazilian problem also did not vote for Lula. The article evaluates if and how the retrospective, ideological and partisan elements have influence on voting, as well as the circumstantial phenomena. Data shows that perceptions about corruption have more impact on the choice for candidates of political parties ideologically neighbors and have less impact on the choice for candidates of ideologically distant political parties. Therefore, the voter’s perceptions about economy, the Lula’s government performance and some partisan aspect were more important for the choice for President and have protected the candidate from the corruption’s accusations.
Corruption; retrospective voting; democratic accountability; 2006 Presidential election
