Right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro and incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will face each other in a runoff after neither candidate secured enough votes to win Brazil’s presidential election outright.
With 98.64 percent of electronic ballot boxes counted, Bolsonaro received 47.27 percent of the vote, while Lula secured 44.88 percent, according to Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court. Neither candidate crossed the 50 percent threshold required for a first-round victory.
The result sets up a closely contested second-round election on October 25, with Brazil’s largest democracy heading into another period of intense political polarisation.
Bolsonaro initially maintained a significant lead as early results arrived. However, Lula gradually narrowed the gap as votes from northeastern states, where he traditionally enjoys strong support, were counted.
More than 158.7 million Brazilians were eligible to vote in Sunday’s election. Voters also selected state governors, senators and members of the Chamber of Deputies.
Polling stations closed at 5pm local time, while officials allowed voters already waiting in queues to cast their ballots. Authorities then began electronically transmitting results from secure voting machines.
The runoff will pit Lula against Flavio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, amid deep ideological divisions and investigations into alleged foreign interference.
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