As night fell on Avenida Paulista, São Paulo’s historic artery, the commotion returned to the body of supporters of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the favorite in his fight with President Jair Bolsonaro. They could only breathe a sigh of relief as Brazil’s first workers’ president led the slow count of votes in this Sunday’s election, closer than expected after the incumbent president surprisingly took the lead. As promised, Lula showed up at the end of the night to address the crowd gathered in front of the red pillars of São Paulo’s art museum, the emblematic MASP. “I’ve never won an election on a first ballot, it seems fate likes to make me work a little harder,” he told them in his hoarse voice. “Starting tomorrow we will campaign,” he told them before the crucial appointment.
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“We flipped it, we flipped it,” shouts Monique Souza, a 21-year-old law student in a red shirt, the color of the Labor Party, excitedly as she follows the results minute-by-minute on her cellphone and in the background firecrackers explode and the roar of hundreds of people crowd together to celebrate Lula’s win, which is being postponed until the second round later this month. The celebrations have given way to caution, but the party continued, with the sticky Lula lá as the soundtrack. “I’m here because I defend democracy,” affirms Monique, a Northeasterner like Lula, in her voice. “The president who was supposed to make sure we had health and vaccines just denied the pandemic,” he slammed at Bolsonaro, whom he described as sexist, homophobic, racist and “everything you can think of.” “Unfortunately, it’s going to be a very close argument,” she concludes, but remains hopeful.
It’s the culmination of a day that saw long lines instead of feared episodes of political violence in the most polarized election in recent memory. “We don’t want any more hate,” Lula said after the very early vote in São Paulo. In a day that has passed with surprising normality, after the incidents of attacks with ideological overtones that have occurred in recent weeks, queues have marked the elections in various cities in Brazil, slowing down the count.
On Avenida Paulista, Lula da Silva, former president and presidential candidate, speaks to his supporters after winning the first round of voting this Sunday in São Paulo Matias Delacroix (AP)
Not only did voters have to choose the next president, they also had to choose federal and state lawmakers, senators and governors, which complicated the process as they were faced with electronic ballot boxes that required them to have their candidates’ numbers in, without being able to use a telephone . mobile. Lula, for example, had PT number 13, while Bolsonaro had 22.
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“Anyone who wants to climb the stairs doesn’t have to wait in line,” shouted an official at the regional electoral court while giving directions amid the bustle of the school at Universidade Anhembi Morumbi, a 12-story building that pales in comparison to the other skyscrapers , which abound in Paulista. In the middle of the afternoon, the swarm of people entering and exiting the elevators was constant. “It’s very crowded. There are five votes, so it is delayed,” she told this newspaper, but withheld her name because she is not authorized to make statements.
The expectation that Lula would solve the election in the first round dominated the latter part of the campaign, but that possibility evaporated as the count progressed. In the end, he planted 48.4% of the vote to 43.2 for Bolsonaro. “I’d like to close the election now, but I think it’s going to the second round,” as the second round of the presidency is called, resigned after casting her vote for María Luisa Dantes, a 19-year-old student with dyed pink hair who voted for the first Participated in some elections. He has no memories of Lula’s mandates, but he is disturbed by the doubts that Bolsonaro planted about an electoral system that he considers “fairly secure”. Voting is compulsory in Brazil and optional for 16- and 17-year-olds, one of the few countries in the world where teenagers can vote. According to the measurements, Lula relies primarily on these new voters.
Patiently waiting in the elevator line was Felipe Bolivar, a 33-year-old businessman wearing the jersey of the Brazilian team at Bolsonaro’s request. On the back is the name of Neymar Jr, who captured a video on Tik Tok this week in support of the far-right president. “Colors define many people in Brazil. It’s a way of expressing our will and integrating a community,” he explains. Though he makes it very clear, he’d rather not say who his vote will be for.
The electronic ballot boxes, which were the target of Bolsonaro’s attacks, were opened as usual for a period of nine hours between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., but this was the first time that the entire country of Brasilia was put under the time that federal capital. This means that all voters showed up at the same time, regardless of the difference between the time slots of a huge territory. However, the Superior Electoral Court has clarified that voters who were already in line before the close were able to vote normally, lengthening the day. Its president, Alexandre de Moraes, has described it as “quiet and harmonious”. The great celebrations in the Paulista, that of the final victory, must now wait.