With nearly all first-round votes counted, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro led President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva but fell short of a majority, setting a 25 October runoff.
Brazil's presidential election is heading to a second round after Senator Flávio Bolsonaro finished ahead of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva without an outright majority. The Guardian reported that, with 99.9 percent of votes counted, Bolsonaro had about 47 percent and Lula 45.1 percent.
Those shares corresponded to about 56.1 million votes for the 45-year-old senator and 53.8 million for the 80-year-old incumbent, the Guardian said. Other right-wing candidates Ronaldo Caiado and Renan Santos took 2.1 percent and 2.2 percent. The runoff is set for 25 October.
Lula told supporters the result was unexpected and that he had been convinced he would win in the first round. He said Bolsonaro's past would become clearer to voters before the runoff, the Guardian reported. The Washington Post described the pairing as a rematch of sorts with the 2022 contest, when Lula narrowly defeated Flávio's father, Jair Bolsonaro.
The Post noted that Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of US President Donald Trump, refused to accept the 2022 result and that supporters later stormed Brazil's presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court. Flávio enters the second round as favourite in the Guardian's reading because votes from eliminated right-wing candidates are expected to move toward him.
No official electoral-court bulletin was independently republished in the sources used here, so the vote shares are attributed to the Guardian's count of 99.9 percent of ballots. Campaigning now turns on whether Lula can close a gap of under two points before 25 October.
People Sentiments Mixed
- Lula called the first-round result unexpected and said he had expected to win outright.
- The Guardian reported Bolsonaro supporters treated the lead as a stronger-than-expected showing.