executive offices would be held in a single round. Voters could freely choose candidates of any party, including for vice president and vice governor. The last two would become the major problems of this constitution, as they were prone to produce and fuel both legitimacy crises (as the presidents were usually elected by less than a majority of votes) and conspiracies (as the vice-president was usually from another party). Sixth Constitution (1967) Background After the military coup d'état of April 1, 1964 the controllers of the new regime kept the 1946 constitution and promised to restore democracy as soon as possible. However, they did not and were faced with a dilemma, as every major measure they took was strictly against that current constitution, including the coup itself. The so-called Institutional Acts sequentially issued by the military presidents were, in practice, placed higher than the Constitution and could amend it. Even under these circumstances, the first military president, Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco, was committed to restoring civilian rule in 1966. However, a large number of military and civilian extremists felt the military had to stay in power for some years. They also wanted to pass more "proper" laws to fight subversive individuals (anyone that opposed the regime). By 1965, however, the situation reached an unbearable point when opposition candidates won the governorship of Minas Gerais and Guanabara. Castelo Branco refused to annul the results. A coup was only averted when Castelo Branco agreed to support the military's reform program. By this time, the military had decided to drop all pretense of democracy. It also felt the 1946 constitution was "obsolete" as the "new institutions" were not foreseen in it. A new constitution was written by a team of lawyers commissioned by Castelo Branco and amended (under the instructions of Castelo Branco himself) by the Minister of Justice, Carlos Medeiros Silva and voted as whole by the Brazilian Parliament (already purged of most opponents of the status quo). The Original Constitution The main features of the new Constitution were: Restriction of political rights: direct elections would only be held at state and county level, but not in federal territories or cities considered of interest to national security for any reason (such cities were specified as those near the international border, state capitals, important industrial centers, university towns, jungle towns, towns close to power plants, mining sites, etc). About 500 cities/towns were