Brazil’s presidential election will be decided in the second round. In the first round of voting, Sunday, October 2, the former left-wing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known as “Lula”, finished ahead of the outgoing far-right head of state, Jair Bolsonaro, with 48.02. % of votes against 43.55%, according to partial results of the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) covering more than 97% of the ballots counted.
More than 5 million votes separate the two men, Lula counting nearly 56 million votes in his favor. But neither of the two candidates having reached an absolute majority, they will be decided in a second round, Sunday, October 30.
“The struggle continues until the final victory”said Sunday evening, Lula. “We are going to win this election”he predicted, promising “more trips, other meetings” to meet the Brazilians to win a third term.
Some 156 million Brazilians were called to vote in this first round to choose their president for the next four years. Centrist Simone Tebet takes third place, far behind, with 4.21% of the vote. Labor Ciro Gomes follows at 3.05%. The other seven candidates are around or below the 0.50% mark. The participation rate for this first round reached 79%.
Palpable tension
This narrow victory is disappointing for Lula to whom the polls promised a large lead, even a triumph in the first round, which he wanted to celebrate on the great Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo. Saturday evening, the latest Datafolha poll gave the candidate of the Workers’ Party (PT) largely in the lead, with 50% of the vote, against 36% for Jair Bolsonaro. For the populist leader, who escaped a humiliating defeat in the first round, these four weeks can be an opportunity to galvanize his troops in the streets and find new momentum.
A second round means another month of a poisonous campaign that has tired millions of Brazilians since August. In addition, many Bolsonarist candidates, including former government ministers, have been elected to Congress and as governors.
At the headquarters of the Workers’ Party, – a hotel in Sao Paulo (southeast) – the tension was palpable on Sunday evening, while the results were scattered. At the start of the count, Jair Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party was more than five points ahead of Lula, but the gap then gradually narrowed.
When Lula walked past after more than three hours of counting, hundreds of people massed in Cinelandia Square, in the historic center of Rio, exploded with joy, noted a journalist from Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Reliability and transparency” of the ballot
Lula, who spent five hundred and eighty days in prison for bribery in 2018 and 2019, made a strong comeback after his convictions were overturned in 2021. At 76, he is campaigning on the “rebuilding” of a very divided country, promising the eradication of hunger, as well as a fight for the preservation of the environment.
Fears persisted over the post-election if successful in Lula’s first round on Sunday. His rival threatened not to recognize the results in the event of defeat, targeting the electoral system, before showing some signs of appeasement as the vote approached.
TSE President Alexandre de Moraes assured that the vote was taking place ” no problem “and held to “reaffirm reliability and transparency” of the electronic ballot box system, repeatedly criticized by Jair Bolsonaro. More than 500,000 members of the security forces were mobilized to provide security for the ballot, which took place in the presence of dozens of foreign observers.