Former president Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva (76) has won the first round of the presidential election in Brazil. This is according to data from the National Election Commission. Since he did not get an absolute majority, a second round will follow at the end of this month.
The difference between Lula, who was already president between 2003 and 2011, and incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro (67) was a lot smaller than expected. With the votes of 97.86 percent of the polls counted, the center-left Lula can count on 47.99 percent. Current far-right President Jair Bolsonaro won 43.57 percent of the vote. As a result, a second round of voting is necessary on October 30, the Brazilian electoral authority says.
Possible election defeat
The question is whether Bolsonaro will accept a possible election defeat at the end of October. Earlier statements by the right-wing populist president suggest not. “If we have clean elections, I will win today with at least 60 percent of the vote,” he said, for example, on Sunday after casting his vote in the first round. He has repeatedly claimed without evidence that the Brazilian electoral system is prone to fraud and that he does not trust the outcome.
Nine other candidates ran for president in the first round of the election. The third candidate is miles behind the two favorites with just 4.20 percent of the vote.
The polls went largely peacefully on Sunday, election officials in the country say.
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