What to know as Brazil prepares for tense presidential run-off
Voters in Brazil are headed to the polls for the second time in a month, as Senator Flavio Bolsonaro and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva square off in a run-off election to decide who will hold the presidency for the next four years.
While Bolsonaro outperformed expectations during the first round of voting on October 4, when he beat Lula by less than two percentage points but failed to secure the majority needed to avoid a run-off, the leftist president has sought to rally supporters ahead of the second round.
The vote on Sunday will decide whether Brazil joins a growing list of countries across Latin America that have handed victories to far-right candidates promising closer ties with the United States, a hard hand on crime and insecurity, and market-friendly economic policies.
Brazil under Lula has emerged as a key holdout against that shift, and a Bolsonaro victory on Sunday would galvanise conservatives in the region seeking to extend their winning streak to the largest country in Latin America.
Who are the candidates in Brazil’s presidential election?
Brazilian voters are choosing between incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro in Sunday’s presidential runoff.
Lula, 80, is seeking a fourth, non-consecutive term in office. A member of the Workers’ Party, he previously served as president from 2003 to 2011 before returning to power in 2023. His government has prioritised social programmes and environmental protections, while he has sought to strengthen Brazil’s ties with developing countries.
His challenger, Flavio Bolsonaro, 45, is the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year prison sentence over his role in a coup plot following his 2022 election defeat. Running for the Liberal Party, Flavio has campaigned on tackling crime, curbing government spending and inflation and strengthening ties with US President Donald Trump.
The candidates ran against each other in the first round on October 4, with Flavio Bolsonaro receiving about 47 percent of the vote and Lula about 45 percent.
The runoff will determine whether Brazil continues under Lula’s left-wing government or shifts towards the right under the Bolsonaro family’s political leadership.
A recap of events leading up to the election:
- Tight presidential runoff: Brazilians are choosing between incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is seeking an unprecedented fourth term, and right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
- Close first-round result: Flavio Bolsonaro finished ahead of Lula in the October 4 first round, winning 47.03 percent of the vote to Lula’s 45.16 percent. The runoff is expected to be closely contested.
- Voting and turnout: Polls opened at 8am local time and are scheduled to close at 5pm (20:00 GMT). Voting is mandatory for most Brazilian adults. Nearly 160 million Brazilians are eligible to vote.
- Trump says he’s watching the election, but the US president declined to endorse anyone in the Brazilian election outright, saying, “I don’t want to get into that” but added, “We are watching.”
- Regulating misinformation online: The election has shown how difficult it is to regulate misinformation online. Brazil has some of the toughest laws when it comes to restricting disinformation online. But Lula and Bolsonaro have both accused each other of spreading misleading information on social media.
- Potential voting time extension: According to AFP, Lula said that many people had been “barred from voting” after buses were taken out of circulation in Sao Paulo and several other cities.
Welcome
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Brazil’s national presidential election results after polls have closed. Stay with us for the latest news and analysis from across the country.
