Bolsonaro vs. Lula in a contentious election in Brazil

• Jair Bolsonaro had 43.3 percent of the votes, with 99.8 percent of voting machines counting.
• Left-wing candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had 48.4 percent of votes that were considered genuine.
• The tense and violent campaign will extend by an extra four weeks.

Deeply divided Brazil will conduct a decisive vote in four weeks after incumbent far-right Jair Bolsonaro performed better than anticipated in the presidential election on Sunday.

According to the Superior Electoral Tribunal, Bolsonaro had 43.3 percent of the vote with 99.8 percent of the voting machines counted, while the left-wing candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva got 48.4 percent of the votes that were considered genuine.

On October 30, the second round of voting will take place, extending the tense and violent campaign by an extra four weeks.

Long lines could be seen at polling places on Sunday, which closed at 5 p.m. local time (20:00 GMT).

There were about 156 million eligible voters.

With recent polls showing Da Silva, often known as Lula, to be in a commanding lead and possibly even winning the first round, he was the front-runner on election day. Expectations of a swift resolution to the extreme polarisation in the fourth-largest democracy in the world were crushed by the strength of Bolsonaro’s support and the far closer outcome.

According to Vice President of the Council of the Americas Eric Farnsworth, “He certainly outperformed, and that’s a significant surprise.” “In Brazil, the polls turned out to be false.”

When polls showed him falling short behind Lula in the first round, Bolsonaro questioned them, claiming they failed to reflect the enthusiasm he had seen on the campaign path. The 67-year-old ex-army captain praised the outcome and declared it a victory.

Regarding the pre-election surveys, he told reporters, “We beat the falsehood today.

“The campaign is now ours… I have complete faith. We can be proud of a number of achievements.

Brazil’s far-right also performed well in contests for the lower house, the Senate, and governorships.

Tarcisio de Freitas, a former infrastructure minister for Bolsonaro, outperformed expectations in the crucial contest for governor of Sao Paulo, Brazil’s most populous state and industrial hub, winning 42.6 percent of the vote to Lula supporter Fernando Haddad’s 35.5 percent, forcing a runoff.

According to Carlos Melo, a political scientist at the Insper business school in Sao Paulo, “the extreme right is quite dominant throughout Brazil.” “Lula’s chances of winning the second round have decreased. Bolsonaro’s re-election campaign will start out strong.

Ricardo Almeida, 45, voted in Brasilia while donning the nation’s flag’s yellow and green colors. He claimed that he supported Bolsonaro because of his Christian faith, support for traditional family values, and conservative political views.

The atmosphere was getting happier outside Bolsonaro’s home in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, which was the scene of joyous celebrations after Bolsonaro won his first election in 2018.

According to 63-year-old Maria Lourdes de Noronha, only fraud could stop Bolsonaro from winning, and if that happens, “we will not accept it.” She called the polls, the media, and the journalists in her country “liars, rascals, and shameless.”

Brazil is exploring a turn to the political left, as do many of its neighbors in Latin America who are dealing with high inflation and sizable populations who are not eligible for formal employment.

Among the newly installed left-leaning presidents in the region are Pedro Castillo of Peru, Gabriel Boric of Chile, and Gustavo Petro of Colombia.

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