With most ballots counted on election night, Flavio Bolsonaro led President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, but neither had a first-round majority, pointing to an October 25 runoff.
Brazilians voted on Sunday in a general election to choose a president, vice president, the Chamber of Deputies and part of the Senate. Incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is seeking another term. His main opponent is Senator Flavio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. local time and closed at 5 p.m. The Superior Electoral Court said voting ended without incidents or signs of international interference, according to BBC News Brasil. About 159 million people were eligible to vote.
With roughly 85 to 90 percent of ballot boxes counted on Sunday evening, partial official figures showed Flavio Bolsonaro near 48 percent of valid votes and Lula near 44 percent. An earlier partial cited by Agora RN, with 64.81 percent counted, had Flavio Bolsonaro at 49.58 percent (37,566,895 votes) and Lula at 42.25 percent (32,007,853). Other candidates, including Augusto Cury and Ronaldo Caiado, were far behind.
Because neither frontrunner had crossed 50 percent in those partials, the race was on course for a second round on October 25 if the final first-round result confirms no majority. State races were also producing runoffs, including in Espirito Santo.
The count was still moving on Sunday night. The TSE is the official source for the final first-round result, which will determine whether Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro meet again in three weeks.