Senator Flavio Bolsonaro led President Lula in Sunday's first round but neither reached a majority, so Brazil will hold a runoff on 25 October.
Brazil's presidential election is going to a second round after neither leading candidate won a majority of valid votes on Sunday, 4 October. The BBC reported that Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, finished ahead of incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, with about 47 percent to Lula's about 45 percent as nearly all votes were counted.
Brazilian outlet Plural, citing the Superior Electoral Court with 99.89 percent of sections tallied, reported 56,077,637 votes for Bolsonaro, or 47.05 percent, and 53,785,199 for Lula, or 45.13 percent. The gap was about 2.3 million votes. CNN Brasil later cited 99.99 percent counted, with Bolsonaro near 47.03 percent and Lula near 45.16 percent.
Lula carried the Northeast, while Bolsonaro led in much of the South, Southeast and Centre-West, a geographic split similar to 2022, Plural reported. Other first-round candidates included Augusto Cury, Renan Santos and Ronaldo Caiado, each under 3 percent in that tally. The next presidential term is due to begin on 5 January.
Bolsonaro told reporters he was happy with the chance of a change of government in three weeks, according to AFP as cited by the BBC. Lula called the result unexpected and said the race was not over. Jair Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year sentence related to the failed effort to overturn the 2022 election, the BBC reported.
The runoff is set for 25 October. Campaigns now have three weeks to court voters who backed eliminated candidates. Official final certification remains with Brazil's electoral court.
People Sentiments Mixed
- Lula called the first-round outcome unexpected and said the race was not over.
- Flavio Bolsonaro said he was happy with the possibility of a change of government in three weeks, AFP reported.