Polling stations in Brazil opened on Sunday in a presidential election marked by an unprecedented climate of tension and violence.
With nearly a dozen candidates on the ballot, the race was dominated by two frontrunners and opposites: right-wing incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro and left-wing former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, leader of the Labor Party.
Both were spotted on the campaign trail flanked by security guards and police officers, sometimes even wearing bulletproof vests. Bolsonaro wore his as he launched his re-election bid last month in the town of Juiz de Fora, where he was stabbed in the stomach during his 2018 presidential campaign. Da Silva, commonly referred to as Lula, was also spotted wearing a vest during an event in Rio de Janeiro, the same city where a homemade stink bomb was launched at a large crowd of his supporters in July.
After voting at a school in Sao Paulo along with his wife Rosangela da Silva on Sunday, Lula told reporters: “We don’t want more discord, we want a country that lives in peace. This is the most important choice. I am very happy.”
He was also referring to the 2018 election, in which he was unable to run – or vote – because of a corruption conviction overturned last year.
“Four years ago I couldn’t vote because I was the victim of a lie in this country. And four years later, here I am, voting with the acknowledgment of my complete freedom and the opportunity to be President of the Republic of this country again, to try and let this country go back to normal,” Lula said.
Bolsonaro, who was voting at a military facility in Rio de Janeiro, told reporters he traveled to “virtually every state in Brazil” during the 45 days of his election campaign.
“The expectation today is victory,” he said, later adding, “Clean elections, no problem at all.”
Voting began at 8:00 a.m. in Brasilia (7:00 a.m. ET) and will end at 5:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. ET). More than 156 million Brazilians are eligible to vote.
In the Brazilian electoral system, a successful candidate must receive more than 50% of the votes. If no candidate crosses that threshold, a second round of voting between the top two will take place on October 30th.
Voters also elect new state governors, senators, federal and state representatives for the country’s 26 states and federal district.
Bolsonaro, 67, is running for re-election under the conservative Liberal Party. He has campaigned to increase mining, privatize public companies and produce more sustainable energy to bring down energy prices. He has vowed to continue paying a R$600 (around US$110) monthly benefit known as Axilio Brasil.
Often referred to as the “Trump of the Tropics” and backed by key evangelical leaders, Bolsonaro is a deeply divisive figure. His government is known for supporting the ruthless exploitation of Amazonian land, which has led to record levels of deforestation. Conservationists warn that the future of the rainforest could be at stake in this election.
Bolsonaro has also been widely criticized for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 686,000 people in Brazil have died from the virus.
Lula, 76, who served as president for two consecutive terms from 2003 to 2011, has focused his campaign on ousting Bolsonaro, highlighting his past accomplishments throughout his campaign.
He left office with a 90% approval rating in 2011 and is largely credited with lifting millions of Brazilians out of extreme poverty through the Bolsa Familia welfare program.
His campaign has promised a new tax system that will allow for higher public spending. He has vowed to end hunger in the country, which has returned during the Bolsonaro administration. Lula also promises to work to reduce carbon emissions and deforestation in the Amazon.
However, Lula is also no stranger to controversy. He was convicted of corruption and money laundering in 2017, charged with the wide-ranging “Operation Car Wash” investigation into state-owned oil company Petrobras. But after serving less than two years, a Supreme Court judge reversed Lula’s conviction in March 2021, clearing the way for him to run for president for a sixth time.
The counting of the votes begins immediately after the end of the mostly electronic ballot papers on Sunday.
Electoral authorities expect the final results of the first round to be officially announced Sunday night. In the last election, the results were officially announced two to three hours after the voting was completed.
Observers will closely monitor whether all candidates publicly accept the result.
Bolsonaro, who has been accused of cheering on supporters with violent rhetoric, has tried to cast doubt on the result, saying that unless he wins “at least 60%” the results should be considered suspicious.
On Saturday, he reiterated claims that he would win the first round of the presidential election “by a margin of more than 60%,” despite trailing 14 points in the most recent poll that day.
When asked on Sunday whether he would accept the election results, Bolsonaro said: “If it’s a clean election, no problem, may the best win.”
Both Bolsonaro and his conservative Liberal Party have claimed that Brazil’s e-voting system is vulnerable to fraud — a completely unfounded claim that has drawn comparisons to former US President Donald Trump’s false election claims.
There have been no proven cases of electronic voting fraud in Brazil.
The Supreme Electoral Court has also dismissed claims of flaws in the system as “false and untrue, with no basis in reality”.
Critics have warned that such talk could lead to outbreaks of violence among some Brazilians or even a refusal to recognize the election result – citing the Trump-instigated January 6, 2021 riots after he lost the vote.
There have already been several reports of violent political discourse from supporters across the political spectrum.
Last weekend, police recorded two fatal incidents in states on opposite ends of the country. In the northeastern state of Ceara, a man was stabbed to death in a bar after identifying himself as a Lula supporter, according to police. And authorities in southern Santa Catarina state say a man wearing a Bolsonaro T-shirt was also fatally stabbed during a violent argument with a man whom witnesses identified as a Labor Party supporter.
Police say they are investigating both incidents and arrests have been made.
And in July, a member of Lula’s Labor party who was celebrating his 50th birthday with a politically-oriented party was shot dead.
Just a day earlier, two explosive devices were thrown into a crowd at a Lula rally.
More than 67% of voters in Brazil fear being “physically assaulted” because of their political affiliation, according to a Datafolha poll conducted in August. And the country’s Supreme Electoral Court issued a ban on firearms within 100 meters (330 feet) of any polling station on Election Day.
The fear factor among voters could lead to a string of abstentions on Sunday, but recent polls show that there are fewer undecided Brazilians this year than in previous elections.