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Polling has closed in Brazil's presidential election, with left-wing incumbent Luiz Incio Lula da Silva facing Senator Flvio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, in a closely contested race.
According to Al Jazeera, around 160 million registered voters were eligible to participate in Sunday's election, which also includes voting for legislators, governors and senators. Results are expected within a few hours of the polls closing due to Brazil's electronic voting system. If no presidential candidate secures more than 50 per cent of valid votes, the top two candidates will advance to a run-off on October 25, Al Jazeera reported. Most opinion polls conducted ahead of the election indicated a close contest, with Lula holding a marginal lead over Flavio Bolsonaro, while the gap narrows further in a potential second round. Flavio Bolsonaro cast his vote in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday and said he wanted to free the Brazilian people. Brazil needs change. It cannot bear any more suffering, such as high taxes, so many women killed, he said, as quoted by Al Jazeera, while expressing confidence that he could win in the first round. Lula, who belongs to the Workers' Party, is seeking a fourth nonconsecutive term. The 80-year-old previously served as Brazil's president from 2003 to 2010 and is campaigning to continue his social programmes aimed at addressing inequality. Flavio Bolsonaro, 45, is contesting from the Liberal Party and has pledged a tough approach to crime and insecurity. He has also promised closer cooperation with the United States under President Donald Trump. His father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, is serving a 27-year prison sentence over his role in a coup plot following his defeat by Lula in the 2022 presidential election by 1.8 percentage points. The conviction of Jair Bolsonaro and several military officers has raised questions about the strength of Brazil's democracy and revived memories of the country's 21-year period under a US-backed military dictatorship. Issues including crime, insecurity and the high cost of living have featured prominently in the presidential campaign. Corruption and concerns over US intervention in Brazil's domestic affairs have also remained key issues, Al Jazeera reported. According to Al Jazeera, a recent survey by Quaest found that violence was the biggest concern among respondents, cited by 31 per cent, followed by corruption at 20 per cent, the economy at 19 per cent and healthcare at 12 per cent. With voting now concluded, the electronic counting process will determine whether either candidate secures more than half of the valid votes or whether the election proceeds to a second-round contest on October 25. (ANI)
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