The polls have closed in Brazil and now we only have to wait for the official results. The first percentages, with just over 30% of the votes counted, give the advantage to the far-right Flávio Bolsonaro over the president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal uploads the results progressively on its website, as the data arrives from the electronic ballot boxes throughout the country. If none of the candidates reaches 50% plus one vote, a second round will be held on October 25.
Earlier, Bolsonaro called on voters to opt for “a change,” because “Brazil can't take it anymore.” Lula, for his part, voted at a school in São Bernardo do Campo, in the industrial belt of São Paulo where he was born into political life. "We'll see what kind of Brazil the people chose. I'm very confident," the president said.
In addition to the presidential vote, the almost 159 million voters elected governors, two senators per state, the 513 federal deputies and the deputies of the state assemblies.
The percentage narrows, with almost 28% counted: Bolsonaro: 50.85%; Lula: 41.05%
Bolsonaro leads Lula by more than 9 percentage points, the narrowest percentage so far. The Superior Electoral Court has already scrutinized 27.88% of the electoral sections. This corresponds to 139,204 of a total of 499,248 tables.
Flavio Bolsonaro: 50.85%
Lula: 41.05%
Writer Augusto Cury: 2.94%
Ronaldo Fallen: 2.37%
Renan Santos: 2.28%
Blank votes: 1.67%
Null votes: 2.54%
The Superior Electoral Court has already scrutinized 22% of a total of 499,248 electoral sections.
Flavio Bolsonaro: 51.07%
Lula: 40.82%
Writer Augusto Cury: 2.94%
Ronaldo Fallen: 2.38%
Renan Santos: 2.27%
Blank: 1.63%
Null: 2.49%
Eduardo Bolsonaro, who sounds like Minister of Foreign Affairs in case his brother wins the elections, has attacked the investigation by the English newspaper The Guardian into Donald Trump's alleged financing of the far-right candidate. “The narrative is preparing the ground so that, if Flávio Bolsonaro wins, the election can be annulled under the pretext of 'foreign interference',” he wrote in X, in response to a news story about the opening of an investigation by the Police last Thursday. He has also pointed out that Lula had received the support of former US President Joe Biden in the last elections.
The Guardian article, published on Wednesday, points out that Trump diverted a million dollars from the Human Rights and Democracy Fund to finance the Countering Lawfare and Censorship in Brazil project, a group that opposes the Supreme Court of Brazil and denounces that former president Jair Bolsonaro is politically persecuted.
The first results suggest that Bolsonaro benefits from the useful vote. With almost 20% of the votes counted, the count (still very provisional) shows a very modest vote for the minority candidates, who mainly represent right-wing options. While Bolsonaro—who benefits from the fact that the count begins in the South of the country—advances 51.17% and Lula 40.72%, the rest does not exceed 3%. Neither the psychiatrist Augusto Cury (2.94%), the surprise candidate who appeared in this election, nor Ronaldo Caiado, who was the bet of the more traditional right, currently exceeds 2.5% of the votes. In the closest election since '89, Bolsonaro has been appealing for weeks precisely to the useful vote, his, the only one that can defeat Lula.
Bolsonaro leads Lula by more than 11 percentage points. The Superior Electoral Court has already scrutinized 17.22% of the electoral sections. This corresponds to 85,964 of a total of 499,248 tables.
Flavio Bolsonaro: 51.22%
Lula: 40.66%
Writer Augusto Cury: 2.95%
Ronaldo Fallen: 2.37%
Renan Santos: 2.27%
Blank: 1.60%
Null: 2.44%
With 10% of the electoral sections counted, the far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro appears in first place, with 5.9 million votes, 50.96% of the total. The leftist president Lula is in second position, with a dozen points less, 40.78%, product of 4.7 million votes.
If these figures are maintained, the opposition candidate would be elected in the first round, given that he would exceed half plus one of the valid votes. However, it is estimated that the scrutiny will become more even when data from the poorest areas of the country are entered.
Flavio Bolsonaro's team announces that the candidate will make a first statement this Sunday at 8:00 p.m. in Brasilia (5:00 p.m. Mexico City time and 1:00 a.m. Spain time).
The first data from the count, just one hour before the polls close, show an advantage for Flávio Bolsonaro (50.64%) over President Lula, in second place with 40.97%.
The electoral count also reflects that Brazil is a continental and unequal country, as well as home to 159 million voters. 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.
After 30 minutes after the close of the election, Brazil's electoral justice system began to publish the first data from the provisional count.
With barely 3% of the sections counted, the far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro appears leading the results, with 49.66% of the votes. President Lula was second, with 41.75%.
In Brazilian elections, it is common for right-wing forces to appear better positioned in the first part of the vote count, coming from the richest and best-connected areas.
To win in the first round, a presidential candidate needs to obtain 50% plus one of the valid votes. If that does not happen, there will be a second round of elections on October 25.
Student Thaismara Correia, 29, is one of those convinced that the Brazilian flag belongs to all Brazilians. That is why this Sunday she went to vote at a school in the Consolação neighborhood in São Paulo dressed in a yellow t-shirt—a symbol that Bolsonaroism has tried to appropriate—and two small stickers on her chest with Lula's face. "I'm wearing yellow because the flag is ours, everyone's, not just the other side. And the stickers make it clear which side I'm on."
For this Lula voter, the 80 years of the president and leader of the Workers' Party (PT) do not concern her at the moment. "It's his last chance, but he's healthy, he's in good shape... as long as he can do the job, it seems valid to me."
At 5:00 p.m. this Sunday, Brazil has closed the polls in a very close election between President Lula and right-wing senator Flávio Bolsonaro. The main economy of Latin America concludes the first round of elections in which Lula, who is seeking re-election for what would be his fourth non-consecutive term, and his rival, eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, arrive practically tied according to the polls.
Thus officially begins the counting of votes of the nearly 159 million Brazilians summoned to elect, in addition to the president, governors, two senators per state, 513 federal deputies and the deputies of the state assemblies. It is presumed that the electronic voting system will allow the result to be known in a few hours. If none of the presidential candidates wins 50% plus one of the valid votes this Sunday, a second electoral round will be held in three weeks, on October 25.
The candidates voted early in the morning. Lula did it in São Paulo, while Bolsonaro in Rio de Janeiro. The day has developed normally, without major incidents. The Federal Police have detained 129 people on suspicion of electoral crimes and have seized 383,600 reais in cash (about $73,000).
The Regional Electoral Court of São Paulo has reported that the storms that fell during election day have left 33 areas of this state, the most populated in Brazil, with 34 million eligible voters without power. The court has clarified that the lack of electricity supply does not pose a risk to the voting in progress, since the electronic ballot boxes used work with a battery that has an autonomy of up to ten hours and also have backup batteries.
The power outages have been temporary in most of the affected areas and at four in the afternoon only the city of Alvares Machado, in the interior of the state of São Paulo, remained in darkness.
Heavy rains have complicated access to polling places in some municipalities and may have an impact on participation. Although voting is mandatory for all Brazilians between 18 and 70 years old, the penalty for not going to the polls is just over three reais, that is, less than one dollar.
The Brazilian Federal Police has detained 129 people on suspicion of electoral crimes until three in the afternoon, according to the partial police report published by the newspaper Folha de São Paulo. In the police operations, 383,600 reais in cash (73,000 dollars) and goods with a value equivalent to 80,000 dollars more have also been seized.
Until then, six investigations and 18 simplified procedures for possible violations had been opened. Among the main irregularities detected are cases of illegal electoral propaganda and electoral corruption, especially suspicions of vote buying.
Police actions have been carried out in the Federal District and in 21 States, including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais.
The president of the Superior Electoral Court of Brazil, Kassio Nunes Marques, ruled out foreign interference in the elections that take place this Sunday. The magistrate's statement came after the Federal Police admitted the opening of an investigation into the alleged interference of the United States through the diversion of funds to networks and organizations aimed at hindering political debate and discrediting justice.
"Our reports do not indicate any type of risk, whether international or coming from organized crime. We have not received any indication in this regard. And so far, it is a fact: nothing has happened," said the magistrate during a press conference at the court headquarters, according to the newspaper Estadão.
Hours earlier, the director of the Federal Police, Andrei Rodrigues, had confirmed the start of a formal investigation based on a complaint from the Brazilian Attorney General's Office. “We already have an investigation underway,” Rodrigues told local press. The alleged facts to be investigated were revealed by the British newspaper The Guardian: the US State Department would have diverted one million dollars from the Human Rights and Democracy Fund, which should have been allocated to the program Combating lawfare and censorship in Brazil, towards entities that would have attacked public discussion and the institutionality of the Brazilian Judiciary.
