Photo: AP.
Some 156 million people in Brazil are heading to the polls this Sunday to choose the country’s next president in a polarized contest between far-right Jair Bolsonaro and left-wing politician and favorite Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Voters have the option of appointing their 39th chief executive in history or using their vote to appease another four years in Bolsonaro’s mandate, who is seeking re-election.
They are elected President and Vice President in the process; state and federal district governors and lieutenant governors; Senators, federal deputies and state deputies.
Over the months, Labor Party presidential candidate Lula and Liberal Party candidate Bolsonaro led voter preferences in that order, as reflected in nearly all polls of voting intentions.
The former union leader’s lead over the former soldier ranged from 3.7 to 16 points.
According to the latest Intelligence Research and Strategic Consulting Institute (IPEC) poll, released this Saturday, Lula appears with 51 percent of valid votes, down one point (52) from the Sept. 27 poll.
Bolsonaro shows 37 percent preference (he had 34 in the previous poll); Former Minister Ciro Gomes of the Labor Democratic Party gets 5 percent (he had six) and Senator Simone Tebet (Brazilian Democratic Movement) comes in with 5 percent (same percentage in the previous poll).
Later, Senator Soraya Thronicke (Brazilian Union) qualifies with one percent (same precedent) and Felipe D’Avila (Partido Novo) shows one percent (similar to the previous poll).
Whether there will be a second round, scheduled for October 30, cannot be said, IPEC states.
coup threat
Despite the confidence of many that Lula could define his victory in this first round, Bolsonaro’s reaction in the event of failure is worrying, having recently warned that he would not accept the result if he didn’t win and would blame the loss on it . something abnormal”. Before the Superior Electoral Court occurred.
The former Bundeswehr captain also did not respond to the question from Congressman Thronicke in the last presidential debate on TV Globo whether he would stage a coup if he did not win the elections.
The former paratrooper dodged the question and blackmailed her into saying she was a parliamentarian to him.
In addition, although Bolsonaro seized power through electronic ballot boxes in 2018, he now doubts the reliability and security of this container, implemented since 1996, which according to the President can be the target of fraud.
Eleven presidential candidates will take part in the elections and according to national legislation, in order to be elected, a candidate must obtain an absolute majority of the votes, ie more than half of the valid votes (excluding blanks and zero votes).
If none of the applicants meet these criteria, a second round will take place, scheduled for October 30th.
The same criteria apply to elections for governors and municipalities with more than 200,000 residents.
As for legislative positions at the federal level, the 513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 27 benches, one for each entity of the federation, out of the 81 total seats that make up the Senate will be contested.
The federal, state and district deputies are also elected according to the so-called proportional representation system, i.e. the representatives of the parties or coalitions with the most votes according to the calculation of the party quotient.
The federal constitution stipulates that every literate citizen who was born or naturalized in the country between the ages of 18 and 70 is eligible to vote.
The referendum is voluntary for young people aged between 16 and 17, those over 70 and illiterates. This means that they can exercise their right but are not legally obliged to do so.
Persons whose place of residence is abroad can only vote in presidential elections.
Of the 4.4 million Brazilians living abroad, 697,844 are alone eligible to elect the country’s next president, according to the State Department.
For persons resident abroad, only one nomination for this position is possible. You can appoint the chief executive in embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions scattered across 159 cities in 97 countries.
Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, is the city with the largest number of Brazilians entitled to vote, with 45.2,000 voters.
Voting takes place via the electronic ballot box system, which allows the results to be announced on the day of the day, a few hours after the voting tables have closed.
(With information from PL)
Lula and Bolsonaro exercise their right to vote
Photo: O Globe.
Presidential candidate Luis Inácio Lula da Silva has exercised his right to vote. The key points of his campaign are the fight against hunger and poverty and the defense of the Amazon, which includes Brazilian biodiversity and economic reactivation.
Photo: Oul.
Jair Bolsonaro voted shortly thereafter. During his re-election campaign, he declared that agribusiness was more important to “the world’s food security” than protecting the Amazon. It also plans to eliminate all federal taxes on gasoline.
Calm and harmonious climate on election day, assures TSE
The President of the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE), Alexandre de Moraes. Photo: Folhapress.
The President of the Supreme Electoral Court of Brazil (TSE), Alexandre de Moraes, reiterated this Sunday that voting in the first round of the general elections in Brazil is taking place in a calm and harmonious atmosphere.
De Moraes only mentioned the occurrence of common problems on election days, such as long queues in some regions.
“That’s also part of normality. Of course, all voters who arrive to vote by 5 p.m. local time. Passwords will be distributed (…) so that the elections can be conducted normally,” he clarified.
He also specified that “from 5:00 p.m. (local time) the TSE will publish all ballot box bulletins on the social network, so that all people and all verifiers will have full access to finally add and broadcast the elections.
The court noted in a recent bulletin that 15 counts of vote-buying (electoral corruption), 75 incidents in constituencies, nine violations of secret ballots and seven counts of illegal transport of voters had been uncovered.
In the early hours of the morning, the main candidates in the lawsuit exercised their rights: former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Labor Party candidate, and President Jair Bolsonaro, who is seeking re-election from the Liberal Party.
Lula voted at the João Firmino state school in the Asunción district of the ABC Paulista industrial zone, calling for peace for Brazil.
After going through the ballot box, the former labor leader kissed the ballot and told the press he wanted to take care of the residents. “We don’t want more discord, we want a country that lives in peace,” he assured.
He pointed out that “this is the most important choice. I’m very happy,” he said.
The PT leader is running for the presidency for the sixth time and is the first candidate from a party association (Brazil of Hope).
Bolsonaro voted at a polling station in Rio de Janeiro’s Villa Militar, where he told reporters “we are calm (…) in the first round, the elections will be decided today.”
When asked if he would acknowledge the results if he failed, he dodged the challenge, replying that he would win with more than 60 percent of the vote.
More than 156 million eligible Brazilians will elect their next president this Sunday, in a polarized contest between Lula, the favorite of all opinion polls to win this Sunday, and Bolsonaro.
They are elected President and Vice President in the process; state and federal district governors and lieutenant governors; Senators, federal deputies and state deputies.
Polling stations closed in Brazil
Photo: AFP.
Polling stations lowered their curtains today after a historic election mass that brought together more than 156 million voters to elect Brazil’s next president for the period 2023-2027.
Also in the lawsuit were elected state vice presidents, state and federal district (DF) governors and deputy governors; Senators, federal deputies and state deputies.
According to the Supreme Electoral Court, despite the official closing time (17:00 local time in Brasilia), people who are still queuing in the referendum centers can stay to cast their vote.
Former governor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a supporter of the Labor Party, and far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, who wants to be re-elected as the Liberal Party candidate, emerged as the main candidates in the elections in this first round, according to opinion polls for months.
If none of the candidates for power (11 registered) get more than half of the valid votes, the two most voted will have to face each other in a second round scheduled for October 30th.
The vote, which was open in the 26 states and the federal district, took place in 5,570 cities across the country and 181 locations abroad.
There were almost 1.8 million people working at polling stations and more than 29.2 thousand candidates.
Voting was compulsory for those over the age of 18 and optional for those who were illiterate, those over the age of 70, and those between the ages of 16 and 17.