Voters across Brazil cast first-round ballots on Sunday for president, the full Chamber of Deputies and two-thirds of the Senate, with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Flavio Bolsonaro the leading contenders.
Brazilians went to the polls on Sunday, 4 October 2026, in the first round of a general election that chooses the president and vice president, all 513 members of the Chamber of Deputies and 54 Senate seats. Reuters reported from Brasilia and Sao Paulo that voting opened after a campaign shaped by corruption allegations, concern about the economy and crime, and arguments over US involvement in Brazilian politics.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 80, is seeking a fourth term. His main rival is Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, 45, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. A Reuters account of Saturday's closing events said Lula ended his campaign with a march in Sao Paulo, while Flavio Bolsonaro joined a motorcycle caravan in Sao Paulo state and later rallied in Rio de Janeiro.
If no candidate takes more than 50 percent of valid votes, the top two advance to a runoff on 25 October. Reuters said surveys showed Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro roughly even in a likely second round, and that other candidates, including former governors Ronaldo Caiado and Romeu Zema, had not broken the polarized contest.
The next government will inherit high public debt and a weak growth outlook, Reuters reported, even though the campaign offered limited policy debate and both leading candidates skipped major television debates. A win for Flavio Bolsonaro would extend recent right-wing gains in Latin America; a Lula re-election would keep in office a government that has clashed with Washington on trade and security.
Official results were not final in reports published while voting was still under way. Electoral authorities were expected to begin releasing figures after polls closed. Blank and null ballots do not count toward the 50 percent threshold.