Brazilians Vote in Tight Presidential Runoff Between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro
Voters across Brazil cast ballots Sunday in a presidential runoff between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, after final polls put the two within the margin of error and about 160 million people were eligible to vote.
Brazilians voted Sunday in a presidential runoff between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, a contest final polls showed was too close to call. Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. Brasília time and were scheduled to close at 5 p.m. Brasília time, with anyone already in line at closing time still allowed to vote.
Flávio Bolsonaro finished first in the Oct. 4 first round with about 47% of the vote, against about 45% for Lula, and neither candidate won the outright majority needed to avoid a runoff. A CNT/MDA poll released Saturday put Bolsonaro at 46.3% and Lula at 45%, according to Reuters. MDA surveyed 2,032 people from Oct. 21 to Oct. 23, and the margin of error was 2.2 percentage points.
Turnout and the first-round nonvoters
Close to 160 million Brazilians were eligible to vote, and voting is mandatory. About 33 million people did not vote in the first round, and both campaigns spent the final days trying to bring those voters to the polls.
Lula is seeking a fourth presidential term. Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, is the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who governed from 2019 to 2022. The elder Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year sentence, under house arrest, for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election to Lula. Flávio Bolsonaro has pledged to pardon or release his father if elected, and he is under investigation over alleged corruption and money laundering.
Two closing pitches
The campaigns closed with different offers. Flávio Bolsonaro has proposed mega-prisons modeled on those in El Salvador and promised cuts to public spending, while Lula’s government raised Bolsa Família payments by 15%. The two men met in a final televised debate on Friday, Oct. 23, hosted by TV Globo.
Lula has framed the vote as a choice over Brazil’s sovereignty. At a São Paulo rally, Flávio Bolsonaro told supporters, “Today, Brazil has no president,” accusing Lula of sharing power with Justice Alexandre de Moraes and alleging judicial persecution of political opponents.
The candidate who receives more valid votes in Sunday’s contest will win. Blank and invalid ballots do not count toward either candidate’s total, and the first-round lead gives Bolsonaro no additional votes in the runoff. Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court will publish results as electronic vote totals are received and processed, and early figures will be a partial count that may change as more polling stations report.
Reporting based on coverage by Reuters and Global South World.
