RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Polls opened across Brazil on Sunday as voters chose between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and right-wing senator Flávio Bolsonaro in a closely fought presidential run-off, BBC News reported.
Lula, 80, is seeking a fourth non-consecutive term. Bolsonaro, 45, is the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election, currently under house arrest because of ill health.
Flávio Bolsonaro came top in the first round on October 4, a result President Donald Trump called a “very big” victory. No candidate who trailed after the first round has ever overturned the deficit in a Brazilian run-off.
Bolsonaro voted early Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, telling reporters that the “time has come for real change,” the BBC reported. He has campaigned on a crackdown on organised crime and tax and spending cuts, and has pledged to free his father.
On Saturday Lula told a huge crowd on Copacabana beach that the election was a matter of “sovereignty,” a choice between “the one who kissed the Brazilian flag and the one who kissed the American flag.” His government has accused the United States of interfering in the election, which Washington calls “baseless.” Lula’s supporters have rallied to lift turnout after 33 million people did not vote in the first round.
Lula plans to watch results in São Paulo; Bolsonaro will be in Brasília.
Sources: BBC News
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