Brazil's heated presidential election will go to second round

Brazil’s polarizing presidential race will go to a second round run-off after no candidate achieved a majority of more than 50% of the ballot in an election that saw long lines at polling booths as millions turned out to vote.

With more than 99% of the vote counted on Sunday evening, results released by Brazil’s Electoral Superior Court (TSE) showed left-wing candidate and former president Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva held a slight lead over right-wing incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro – but not enough to cross the threshold to victory.

The latest official count put Lula ahead with 48.4% of the vote versus 43.2% for Bolsonaro, a divisive figure often referred to as the “Trump of the Tropics.”

Bolsonaro’s result was eight points higher than the latest Datafolha poll showed on Saturday, while Lula’s was two to three points lower than predicted by polls.

Lula stated to reporters in Sao Paulo on Sunday night that he was confident about winning the run-off vote, which will be held on October 30,

“It will be important (to have a second round) because we will have the chance to do a face-to-face debate with the current president to know if he will keep on telling lies,” said Lula, who was Brazil’s leader from 2002 to 2010.

Bolsonaro spoke briefly at a news conference on Sunday to say that the voting reflected poor economic conditions in Brazil and promised to appeal more to those who are concerned about rising prices.

“We have a second round ahead where everything becomes the same, the (television advertising) time for each side becomes the same. And now we are going to show it better for the Brazilian population, especially the most affected class, the consequence of the ‘stay at home, we’ll see the economy later’ policy,” Bolsonaro said.

Bolsonaro, who routinely discredits the Brazilian electoral system, and threatened to not accept its outcomes, managed to defeat Lula in the southeast, the most populous state of Brazil.

More than 123 million Brazilians waited in long lines to vote in the world’s fourth largest democracy, while another 32 million abstained. Alexandre de Moraes of TSE said that the long lines were due to new biometric security checks, and a higher than expected voter turnout.

There were many other presidential candidates who were also in the race, but they trailed far behind those two.

Simone Tebet, from the Brazilian Democratic Movement, came third with 4.1% valid votes. Ciro Gomes, from the Democratic Labour Party, received 3.05%.

Gomes said in a news conference Sunday that he is “deeply concerned” about Brazil’s political polarization. “I have never seen a situation so complex, so challenging, so potentially threatening to our fortunes as a nation,” he said.

After voting alongside his wife, Rosangela da Silva, at a Sao Paulo school on Sunday, Lula told reporters: “We don’t want more discord, we want a country that lives in peace. This is the most important election. I am really happy.”

He also referenced the 2018 elections, where he had been unable to run – or vote – because of a corruption conviction that was overturned last year.

“Four years ago I couldn’t vote because I had been the victim of a lie in this country. And four years later, I’m here, voting with the recognition of my total freedom and with the possibility of being president of the republic of this country again, to try to make this country return to normality,” Lula said.

Lula vs. Bolsonaro during the campaign trail

Although there were almost a dozen candidates on this ballot, Lula and Bolsonaro dominated the race from the beginning. They are two giants of Brazilian politics and engaged in a bitter campaign season that saw them engage in verbal attacks and violent incidents between their supporters.

Bolsonaro, who is 67, ran for reelection under the conservative Liberal Party. Bolsonaro campaigned to increase the mining industry, privatize public companies, and produce more sustainable energy to lower energy prices. He has pledged to continue paying the R$600 (about $110) monthly Auxilio Brasil benefit.

His government is well-known for its support of the exploitation of land in Amazon, which has led to record levels of deforestation. The future of the rainforest could be at risk in this election, warn environmentalists.

Bolsonaro's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has also been widely criticised. The virus has claimed the lives of more than 680,000 people in Brazil.

Lula, 76-year-old, focused his campaign to get Bolsonaro out the office and highlighted his past achievements throughout.

He left office with a 90% approval rating in 2011, and is largely credited for lifting millions of Brazilians from extreme poverty through the “Bolsa Familia” welfare program.

His campaign promised a new tax system that will allow for greater public spending. He has pledged to end the country's hunger, which has returned under the Bolsonaro government. Lula also promised to reduce carbon emissions, and deforestation in Amazon.

Lula is however not a stranger to controversy. He was convicted for corruption and money laundering in 2017, on charges stemming from the wide-ranging “Operation Car Wash” investigation into the state-run oil company Petrobras. But after serving less than two years, a Supreme Court Justice annulled Lula’s conviction in March 2021, clearing the way for him to run for president for a sixth time.

‘If they are clean elections, no problem’

Bolsonaro, who has been accused of firing up supporters with violent rhetoric, has sought to sow doubts about the result and said that the results should be considered suspicious if he doesn’t gain “at least 60%.”

On Saturday, he repeated claims that he expected to win in the first round of presidential elections “with a margin higher than 60%,” despite being 14 points behind in the most recent poll that day.

Both Bolsonaro and his Liberal Party have claimed that Brazil’s electronic ballot system is susceptible to fraud – an entirely unfounded allegation that has drawn comparisons to the false election claims of former US President Donald Trump.

In Brazil, there have not been any instances of voter fraud via the electronic ballot.

The Supreme Electoral Court has also rejected claims of flaws in the system, as “false and untruthful, with no base in reality.”

CNN’s Flora Charner contributed reporting.