The current president, the far-right Jair Bolsonaro, and the leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who previously ruled the country, are competing in the elections.
Nearly 98 percent of the votes were counted. Currently, Lula gets 47.9 percent of the vote and Bolsonaro 43.7 percent.
Vote Previous polls predicted Bolsonaro’s share of votes to be lower. For the last 24 years, the presidential elections in the country have been going to the second round.
Political experts still say this is one of the most “polarized” elections the country has ever seen. BrazilMore than 156 million people in Turkey are obliged to vote and voting is done electronically.
Speaking after voting, Lula said he wanted to bring the country back to normal. Bolsonaro, who frequently questions the electronic voting system, said “clean elections” should be respected.
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Five facts about Bolsonaro: 67 years old, Right-wing extremist, Ex-captain, Running for second consecutive term, raises unconfirmed doubts about reliability of Brazil’s electronic voting system
The election process has been highly polarized, with the two candidates’ harsh rhetoric towards each other. In a televised debate on Thursday, President Bolsonaro described Lula as a “ex-convict” and a “traitor”. Lula, on the other hand, called his opponent a “liar”.
Lula was unable to run in the 2018 elections, as he was in prison and could not run. His Labor colleague, Fernando Haddad, failed to persuade left-wing voters the way Lula did.
Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right lawmaker and former military commander, was appointed, amid widespread discontent with mainstream politicians and anger at the corruption scandals that have tarnished the Labor Party.
However, when Lula’s conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court, the former head of state was able to run again. In the pre-election polls, Lula was ahead of Bolsonaro by a double-digit margin, but he was not given a chance to win the election in the first round.
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Nine more candidates competed in the election, but none of these candidates exceeded 10 percent, according to polls.
Five facts about Lula: 76 years old, Leftist, Former metal worker, President from 2003-2010, went to jail in 2018 but his conviction was later dropped
According to the Brazilian electoral system, candidates must receive 50 percent of the votes to win the race in the first round. The centre-right candidate, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who was elected for the second time in 1998, was the last candidate in the country to win the election in the first round.
However, many Bolsonaro supporters are also confident that their candidate will triumph. Bolsonaro made some claims about the country’s electronic voting system without providing evidence and said there could be fraud.
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He is adamant that if he loses, it will be because the voting was fraudulent. The country’s electoral board dismissed these allegations, calling them “baseless and deceptive”.
BOLSONARO AND LULA: WHAT ARE THEY DEFENDING?
Lula: Leftist, former union leader
- Taking measures to better protect the Amazon rainforest
- Eliminating hunger in the country through income transfer projects
- It promises to re-establish relations with many countries and to assume the leadership of the region.
Bolsonaro: Right-wing, populist, former MP who served as a captain in the army
- He did the long-awaited pension reform and reform of the state.
- To oppose the demands for gender equality and rule the country with Christian principles.
- It promises to ensure that ordinary people have the right to acquire weapons.
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