None of the candidates in the Brazilian presidential election obtained an absolute majority in the first round. At the end of the counting of almost all the votes on Sunday evening, the ballot will be decided in the second round. Former left-wing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known as “Lula”, finished ahead of the outgoing far-right head of state, Jair Bolsonaro, with 48.43% of the vote against 43.20%, according to the results published by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) relating to 99.99% of the ballots counted.
More than 6 million votes separate the two men, Lula counting more than 57.2 million votes in his favor. But neither of the two candidates having reached an absolute majority, they will be decided in a second round, Sunday, October 30.
The lesson of this first round remains once again the polls which gave Lula the clear winner. Jair Bolsonaro even obtained a score higher than that which was announced. The outgoing president was also quick to react after the publication of the results, congratulating himself on having “defeated the lies” of the polls.