Brazil election goes to runoff as Bolsonaro does better than expected

With 95 per cent of electronic votes counted, Lula was ahead with 47.6 per cent of votes versus 43.9 per cent for Bolsonaro, the national electoral authority reported. As neither got a majority, the race will go to a second-round vote on October 30.

Several opinion surveys had shown Lula leading Bolsonaro by 10-15 percentage points ahead of Sunday's vote. The much tighter result dashed expectations of a quick resolution to a deeply polarised election in the world’s fourth-largest democracy.

Although he ended his 2003-2010 government with record popularity, Lula is now loathed by many Brazilians after he was convicted of accepting bribes and jailed during the last election. His conviction was later overturned by the Supreme Court, allowing him to face his rival Bolsonaro this year, along with nine other candidates from an array of smaller parties.

A career lawmaker turned self-styled outsider, Bolsonaro rode a backlash against Lula's Workers Party to victory in 2018, uniting strands of Brazil's right, from evangelical Christians to farming interests and pro-gun advocates.

He has dismantled environmental and indigenous protections to the delight of commercial farmers and wildcat miners while pushing an anti-gay and anti-abortion agenda.

Brazil’s leftist presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Sunday he’s ready for a run-off vote, after securing 48.4 per cent of ballots in the first round election.

Lula da Silva said he has never clinched victory in the first round.

Incumbent Bolsonaro warned voters that "a change could be worse" in Brazil.

He had questioned polls that showed him losing to Lula in the first round, saying they did not capture the enthusiasm he saw on the campaign trail.

He has also attacked the integrity of Brazil's electronic voting system without evidence and suggested he might not concede if he lost.

Political observers had said a wide margin of victory for Lula could sap Bolsonaro of support to challenge the electoral results. But Sunday's vote, extending a tense and violent election by another four weeks, revitalised his campaign.

His popularity has suffered since the coronavirus pandemic, which he dismissed as a "little flu". Corruption scandals also forced ministers out of his government and focused a harsh spotlight on his lawmaker sons.

Reuters