Voters across Brazil cast ballots on Sunday in a first-round presidential and congressional election that polls suggest is headed for an October 25 runoff between President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro.
Brazilians went to the polls on Sunday for the first round of a presidential election that Reuters described as narrowly split after a campaign dominated by corruption scandals, economic anxiety and accusations of U.S. meddling.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 80, is seeking a fourth term. His main rival is Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, 45, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Voters are also choosing all 513 members of the Chamber of Deputies and two-thirds of the Senate.
A candidate needs more than 50 percent of valid votes to win outright. Reuters reported that surveys show Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro roughly even in a likely runoff on October 25, and that other candidates including former governors Ronaldo Caiado and Romeu Zema have struggled to break the polarized field.
Flavio Bolsonaro has promised to seek amnesty for his father, who is serving a sentence of more than 27 years after being convicted over a plot to overturn the 2022 result. Lula has framed the vote as a choice between democracy and denialism. Both leading candidates skipped major television debates, Reuters said.
The next government will inherit public debt above 82 percent of GDP and growth forecasts the government has cut to 2.0 percent this year and 2.3 percent next year. A Banco Master fraud investigation has also shadowed the campaign; Flavio Bolsonaro is under a federal police money-laundering inquiry tied to the case, which he denies.
People Sentiments Mixed
- Flavio Bolsonaro said he was convinced the race could be won in the first round.
- Lula told supporters the vote was a choice between democracy and barbarism and predicted a first-round win.