Brasília, 12 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - A report from the Superior Electoral Court says that there is a grand total of 18,151 candidates running for 1,600 offices in the executive and legislative branches in this year's elections which will take place on October 6.

The largest number of candidates, 12,978, are running for state legislatures (deputy), where there are 1,059 seats at stake. In 1998, there were 9,918 candidates.

This year's race for the 513 seats in the lower house (federal deputy) involves a total of 4,629 candidates, compared to 3,354 in 1998.

With two-thirds of the Senate up for grabs this year, 334 candidates are running for 54 seats there, compared to 165 in 1998 when 27 seats were vacant.

A total of 210 candidates are running for 27 governorships, compared to 174 in 1998.

Finally, the only race where the number of candidates has actually fallen is for president. Instead of the twelve candidates who ran in 1998, this time there are only half that, six. (AB)