The new electoral appointment will be next October 25 as no candidate has reached 50% of the votes plus one
The result of the partial scrutiny of 92% of the Brazilian presidential elections leads to a second round between the far-right Flávio Bolsonaro (47.8%) and the president, the leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (44.1%). The former leads Lula by four percentage points and they will face each other again on October 25. The almost 159 million voters voted for governors, two senators per state, the 513 federal deputies and the deputies of the state assemblies.
María MartínRio de Janeiro
Tarcísio de Freitas, ally of Bolsonaro, overwhelms Haddad, Lula's candidate, in São Paulo
With more than 95% of the votes counted, Governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) was re-elected this Sunday in the first round in São Paulo, the most populated and richest state in Brazil, with 62.75% of the valid votes. The PT Fernando Haddad has remained at 36.33%. Tarcísio, 51, was Jair Bolsonaro's Minister of Infrastructure and already defeated Haddad in 2022, when he put an end to 28 years of PSDB governments in the state. This time it has had the support of a broad right-wing front that included Bolsonaro's PL. For Haddad, former Minister of Finance and the candidate whom Lula has publicly pointed out as his possible successor. It is his fourth consecutive electoral defeat.
The Country
Flávio Bolsonaro arrives at his campaign headquarters in Brasilia
Presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro has arrived at his campaign headquarters in Lago Sul, in the Federal District. He is accompanied by his family and political allies. He is expected to rule on the result in the next few minutes.
The Country
Bolsonaro surpasses Lula by 4 percentage points, with 90% scrutinized
The difference between both candidates is increasingly narrower. With 90.38% of the tables counted, Bolsonaro maintains the advantage over the progressive candidate, with 4% more support. However, the far-right loses practically half a percentage point since the last bulletin issued by the Superior Electoral Tribunal. Currently, Bolsonaro combines 48.02% and Lula, 44%. Results that predict a second round on October 25.
The Country
Bolsonaro leads Lula by 5 points with 85% counted and they will compete for the Presidency in the second round
Brazil will have a second round in three weeks, on October 25. With 88% of the electoral sections counted, none of the candidates exceeds 50% of the valid votes, a necessary condition to avoid a runoff. Flávio Bolsonaro wins the first round with 48.19% of the support. Lula follows with 43.80%. The difference is almost five million votes. The path is narrowing for the current left-wing president: the candidates who are left out of the second round are closer to the right and accumulate more than 7% of the votes.
Four years ago, Lula won the second round by a very narrow difference: just 1.8 percentage points - 50.9% against 49.1%. He faced that electoral appointment after having won the first round with 48.4% of the votes, compared to Jair Bolsonaro's 43.2%.
The Country
Lula reduces the distance to less than five points, with 85% of the electoral sections scrutinized
The Superior Electoral Court has already scrutinized 85% of a total of 499,248 electoral sections.
Flavio Bolsonaro: 48.47%
Lula: 43.49%
Writer Augusto Cury: 2.94%
Renan Santos: 2.31%
Ronaldo Fallen: 2.27%
Blank: 1.83%
Null: 2.86%
María MartínRio de Janeiro
Sergio Moro, the judge who imprisoned Lula, wins the government of Paraná with the support of the Bolsonaros
Senator Sergio Moro (PL), 54 years old, will be the next governor of Paraná after achieving 50.18% of the votes. His victory is a new twist in one of the most unique trajectories in Brazilian politics. As a judge in the Lava Jato operation, Moro convicted Lula of corruption in 2017, which landed him in jail and left him out of the 2018 elections. Weeks after Jair Bolsonaro's victory, he agreed to be his Justice Minister. The alliance lasted just a year and a half: in 2020 he resigned, accusing the president of interfering in the Federal Police, and Bolsonarism branded him a traitor. In 2021, the Supreme Court annulled Lula's convictions, considering that Moro had been biased and the right ended up reconciling with him. Elected senator in 2022, Moro joined Bolsonaro's PL this year and Flávio Bolsonaro supported his candidacy.
The Country
Michelle Bolsonaro is the senator with the most votes in the history of the Federal District
Former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro, who lashed out at her stepson during the campaign and later reconciled, emerges stronger from this election. He has obtained an unprecedented victory in the Senate election for the Federal District. With 99.5% of the electoral sections counted, it garnered 932,875 votes, 29%. He is followed by his party partner, Bia Kicis, with 881,413 supports, 27.4%. The center-left candidate, Leila do Vôlei, came in third place with 21.3% and is out of the upper house.
According to the G1 news portal, she is the senator with the most votes in the history of the Federal District. He surpasses the vote of Governor Celina Leão (Progressive Party), an ally of Bolsonaro, who has been re-elected.
The former first lady is the main female figure of Bolsonaroism, in a highly masculinized political scenario—neither Lula nor Flávio Bolsonaro chose women as running mates. In June, the former president's wife shot her stepson through a video on X. "They treat me like I'm an idiot. As if I arrived yesterday. But no, I know more than they think," she said. As president of the PL Mujer, the women's section of the Liberal Party, she recruited women candidates and activists throughout Brazil. A few days after the public questioning, he resigned from his position in the party.
The Country
At least 25 voting centers in São Paulo still open at 7:30 p.m.
At least 25 voting centers were still open in São Paulo at 7:30 p.m. local time. This was announced a few minutes ago by the Regional Electoral Court of the capital of São Paulo. The institution warned of this irregularity in the neighborhoods of Guaianases and Indianapolis. In other nearby municipalities, they also reported ballot boxes open two hours later than established in Itapeva, Ribeirão Branco, Atibaia, Nazaré Paulista, Bom Jesus dos Perdões, Pirapozinho, Narandiba, Sumaré, São Vicente, Monte Mor, Elias Fausto, Campinas, Carapicuíba, Lins and Ribeirão Preto.
The Country
Bolsonaro's party already obtains 16 senators
The Liberal Party (PL), the formation of the far-right Flávio Bolsonaro, already has 16 senators of the 54 that are renewed in these elections. Only 25 seats have been defined so far. None are from the PT, Lula's party.
The PL is followed by two seats from the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MSB), two from Novo, two from the Brazilian Socialist Party. The Progressive Party, Republicans and União each accumulate one seat. In the Chamber of Deputies, 513 seats are at stake; the entire body. In the Senate, 54 of the 81 seats are renewed, equivalent to two-thirds of the upper house.
The Country
No president has been elected in the first round since 1994
No Brazilian president has been elected in the first round since 1994, when Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995-2002) obtained 54.3% of the votes compared to Lula's 27%. To avoid a runoff, the winner must exceed 50% of the valid votes. This has not happened in any of the seven elections that have taken place since 1994.
The Country
Bolsonaro and Lula will go to the second round, according to Datafolha
Flávio Bolsonaro and Lula will go to the second round, according to Datafolha estimates. According to the country's most important public opinion institute, none of the candidates will achieve more than the 50% necessary to declare themselves president of Brazil this Sunday.
So far, with 65% of the ballot boxes counted, Bolsonaro has more than 49% (excluding blank and null votes), compared to 42% for the progressive.
The Country
In 2022, Lula surpassed Bolsonaro after reaching 70% of the scrutiny
Although Flávio Bolsonaro leads Lula by almost eight percentage points, it is expected that the president will be able to close the gap in the last part of the count. The votes from the polling stations in the south of the country, from the urban centers, the richest and best connected areas, are the first to enter the count. That is why at the beginning of the scrutiny the right usually appears more strongly. And the left of Lula and the Workers' Party begins to gain traction with the count already advanced, when votes from the northeastern region of Brazil, the president's native land and the historically poorest Brazil, begin to enter in force.
In 2022, Lula surpassed Jair Bolsonaro after 70% of the vote. At that time, with 13.2% of the electoral sections counted, the far-right obtained 48.04% of the votes compared to 43.23% for the left. The now president surpassed his rival only when 70% of the votes were reached. The first round scrutiny ended with 48.43% for Lula and 43.2% for Bolsonaro.
The Country
The foreign vote is progressive
With 62.92% of the ballot boxes counted, the Superior Electoral Court distributed the votes abroad. Participation was 40.10% and abstention was 59.90%. Lula won in 59 countries, while Flávio Bolsonaro led in 28, which consolidates a progressive majority abroad. Almost a million Brazilians were eligible to vote in 186 cities in 134 countries. Most were concentrated in the United States, Portugal and Japan.
The Country
Bolsonaro leads Lula with 65% of the votes counted
The Superior Electoral Tribunal has already scrutinized 65% of a total of 499,248 electoral sections.
Flavio Bolsonaro: 49.58%
Lula: 42.25%
Writer Augusto Cury: 2.97%
Ronaldo Fallen: 2.34%
Renan Santos: 2.34%
Blank: 1.8%
Null: 2.77%
The Country
Bolsonaro would win in Minas Gerais, with almost 70% counted
With 62.28% of the tables counted in the state of Minas Gerais, Bolsonaro would win with 49.14% of the votes, compared to 42.08% for Lula. These results are read in the country as key in the elections, since they are a mirror of the national vote. No president has been elected without winning the second most populous state since 1989.
The Country
Bolsonarist Tarcísio de Freitas sweeps São Paulo
The Bolsonaro governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, sweeps the election to renew his position. With 67% of the electoral sections counted, he wins with 63.53% of the votes. He leads by almost 30 points over Fernando Haddad, one of the main figures of the Workers' Party (PT) and former presidential candidate in 2018. Datafolha, the Folha group's polling institute, has already declared the election.
For a long time, De Freitas sounded like one of the right's bets to face Lula in the presidential election. Although he is more moderate, he was considered the Bolsonarista best placed to succeed his political godfather. Finally, the former president interceded on behalf of his son Flávio Bolsonaro. At the end of 2025, De Freitas focused on getting re-elected.
The Country
Bolsonaro obtains almost 5 million more votes than Lula, with 47% counted
Bolsonaro remains in the lead with more than 4.6 million votes difference with Lula. The Superior Electoral Court has already scrutinized 47.26% of the electoral sections. This corresponds to 235,931 of a total of 499,248 tables.
Flavio Bolsonaro: 50.20%
Lula: 41.63%
Writer Augusto Cury: 2.96%
Ronaldo Fallen: 2.38%
Renan Santos: 2.32%
The Country
Bolsonaro combines 50.41%, with more than 41% of the votes counted
The Superior Electoral Court has already scrutinized 41.57% of the electoral sections. The difference is more than 4 million votes, according to 207,533 of a total of 499,248 tables. None of the other candidates exceeds 3% of the votes. The candidate who achieves more than 50% would be the new president of Brazil in the first round.
Flavio Bolsonaro: 50.41%
Lula: 41.44%
Writer Augusto Cury: 2.95%
Ronaldo Fallen: 2.39%
Renan Santos: 2.31%
The Country
Michelle Bolsonaro will be senator for the Federal District
Michelle Bolsonaro, the wife of former president Jair Bolsonaro, will be a senator for the Federal District. It is the first time that a former first lady has been elected to the upper house. He has obtained one of the two seats in dispute for the DF. The other seat corresponds to his co-partisan Bia Kicis. Both will be in office until 2032. They will join Senator Damares Alves (Republicans), who will end her term in 2030.
The ex-president's wife is the main female figure of Bolsonarism. During the campaign, he clashed with his stepson, presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro. "They treat me as if I were an idiot. As if I arrived yesterday. But no, I know more than they think," she publicly shot in a video on A few days after the public questioning, he resigned from his position in the party.
The Country
Bolsonaro surpasses Lula by almost 10 points, with more than 35% counted
The Superior Electoral Court has already scrutinized 36.6% of a total of 499,248 electoral sections.
Flavio Bolsonaro: 50.63%
Lula: 41.23%
Writer Augusto Cury: 2.95%
Ronaldo Fallen: 2.39%
Renan Santos: 2.30%
Blank: 1.71%
Void: 2.60%
The Country
Bolsonaro leads the results with 50.7%, with 31% scrutinized
Bolsonaro maintains an advantage of almost 10 percentage points over Lula. The Superior Electoral Court has already scrutinized 31.90% of the electoral sections. This corresponds to 159,242 of a total of 499,248 tables. None of the other candidates exceeds 3% of the votes.
Flavio Bolsonaro: 50.74%
Lula: 41.14%
Writer Augusto Cury: 2.94%
Ronaldo Fallen: 2.38%
Renan Santos: 2.28%
Lucas ReynosoBogotá (COLOMBIA)
Abelardo de la Espriella: “Today my heart is with Brazil, the real change is defeating the left”
The president of Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella, has sent greetings to the far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, as the scrutiny progresses. "Um big hug, friend," he wrote in Portuguese on his X account. "Today my heart is with Brazil, may God have mercy on our brother country as he did with Colombia. The real change is to defeat the left," he commented in Spanish. He concluded his message with his usual slogans: "Sign for the Homeland! Long live Christ the King!"
The Country
The percentage narrows, with almost 28% counted: Bolsonaro: 50.85%; Lula: 41.05%
Bolsonaro leads Lula with more than 9 points per
