Polls show a technical tie. Polls close at 5 p.m. Brasília time, and official results follow.
SÃO PAULO – Brazilians voted Sunday in a tight presidential runoff between leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of convicted former President Jair Bolsonaro. Reuters reported the result could shift Latin America’s largest nation sharply to the right and closer to the United States, as part of a broader conservative shift across the region.
Polls show the two candidates practically tied after Lula closed the gap in the final days. Datafolha’s final poll, released Saturday, put Flávio at 51% and Lula at 49% of valid votes, which excludes blank and spoiled ballots and undecided voters. Quaest also had Flávio at 51% to 49%. Both are within the margin of error.
Flávio defied pollsters to finish first in the Oct. 4 first round with 47.03% of valid votes against Lula’s 45.16%. History, however, favors the incumbent’s challenger less than it seems: Reuters noted that no candidate has ever won Brazil’s presidency after finishing second in the first round.
Polls close at 5 p.m. Brasília time (4 p.m. in Trinidad and Tobago and on the US East Coast), and the electoral court, the TSE, starts publishing official results right after. Runoff elections for governor are also being held Sunday in Acre, Amazonas, Espírito Santo, Rio Grande do Norte, Tocantins and the Federal District.
This story will be updated when results are available.
SÃO PAULO – Brazilians voted Sunday in a tight presidential runoff between leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of convicted former President Jair Bolsonaro. Reuters reported the result could shift Latin America’s largest nation sharply to the right and closer to the United States, as part of a broader conservative shift across the region.
Polls show the two candidates practically tied after Lula closed the gap in the final days. Datafolha’s final poll, released Saturday, put Flávio at 51% and Lula at 49% of valid votes, which excludes blank and spoiled ballots and undecided voters. Quaest also had Flávio at 51% to 49%. Both are within the margin of error.
Flávio defied pollsters to finish first in the Oct. 4 first round with 47.03% of valid votes against Lula’s 45.16%. History, however, favors the incumbent’s challenger less than it seems: Reuters noted that no candidate has ever won Brazil’s presidency after finishing second in the first round.
Polls close at 5 p.m. Brasília time (4 p.m. in Trinidad and Tobago and on the US East Coast), and the electoral court, the TSE, starts publishing official results right after. Runoff elections for governor are also being held Sunday in Acre, Amazonas, Espírito Santo, Rio Grande do Norte, Tocantins and the Federal District.
This story will be updated when results are available.