Brazilians are voting Sunday in a pivotal presidential election dominated by incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his ideological opposite, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro.
Preelection polls suggested both have a chance of winning outright, but if neither gets a majority of the vote, a runoff will be held on Oct. 25.
Nearly 159 million Brazilians are eligible to vote in Latin America’s largest economy. Bolsonaro is an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump and the son of ex-leader Jair Bolsonaro, whom Lula defeated four years ago.
Here's the latest:
Bolsonaro casts his vote
Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro has voted in his home state of Rio de Janeiro.
“Brazil needs change, Brazil can’t stand so much suffering,” said Bolsonaro, who arrived at around 8:10 a.m. local time to vote in a school.
He was dressed in a light yellow shirt featuring a “22” sticker, corresponding to the number that Brazilians must punch in to electronic voting machines if voting for him.
“I am more than prepared to preside this country to give back to Brazilians the right to dream,” he told journalists.
Brazilian sovereignty takes center stage
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government sees a series of recent U.S. measures — including tariffs and the decision to classify Brazil’s biggest drug-trafficking groups as foreign terrorist organizations — as attempts to tip the scale in Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro’s favor, an accusation that the Trump administration has denied.
A victory by Bolsonaro would mean Brazil would join Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Peru in electing Trump-friendly governments in recent years.
Lula has made Brazil’s sovereignty a major campaign issue. In the days before the election, his team launched a Portuguese version of the Bad Bunny song, “Lo que le paso a Hawaii,” that uses the U.S. colonization of Hawaii as a cautionary tale.
Brazilians use electronic voting machines to vote
Brazilian voters prepare number-heavy lists to remember their candidates’ numbers and at the ballot box, punch in the corresponding digits. Brazilian authorities adopted electronic voting machines in the 1990s to tackle longstanding fraud.
In earlier elections, ballot boxes were stuffed or stolen, and individual votes were routinely falsified, according to Brazil’s electoral authority. Now, results are reported mere hours after polls close.
In the lead-up to the 2022 vote, Jair Bolsonaro repeatedly cast unfounded doubts on Brazil’s electronic voting system. No significant fraud has ever been detected.
Political longevity takes center stage
Alongside regional heavyweights like U.S. President Donald Trump and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, 80-year-old Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stands among the oldest leaders in the Americas.
If Lula achieves an outright victory against 45-year-old Flávio Bolsonaro, he will cement a historic milestone, becoming the oldest man ever elected to lead the South American nation.
He says he wants to live to be 120. He tried to ease concerns by posting workout videos to attempt to convince voters that age is just a number.
Voting is underway in Brazil
Voting has started in Brazil's high-stakes presidential election, pitting the two main candidates, incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his ideological opposite, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, against each other.
Almost 159 million Brazilians are eligible to vote in this tense political showdown.
Brazilians will also elect 27 state governors, members of state legislatures, all 513 federal members of the lower house of congress and 54 of the country’s 81 senators in Sunday’s vote.
