Brazil Election: Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva Wins but Not Outright Victory After He Failed to Secure Majority Over Jair Bolsonaro

Brazil's election has seen former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva leading in the polls against Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.

However, Brazil's presidential race will go to a second round after no candidate achieved over 50% of the vote. With more than 97% of the vote counted on Sunday night, Lula had failed to secure a majority vote, only getting 48.04% of the vote, while Bolsonaro received 43.54%, according to The Guardian.

The two will meet again on October 30 for the second round of voting. Lula told reporters he is hopeful that the election will be decided tomorrow. However, if it is not the case, they will have to act like a "football team when a match goes to extra time."

The president of Lula's Workers' party, Gleisi Hoffman, said the campaign was neither "sad nor downcast," noting Lula's more than 56 million votes. She then congratulated Lula on his "victory."

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Leading in Brazil Election

Reuters reported that several opinion surveys had shown Lula leading Bolsonaro by 10-15 percentage points before Sunday's vote. Bolsonaro then questioned polls showing him losing to Lula in the first round. He noted that the polls did not capture the "enthusiasm" he saw during the campaign period.

The Brazilian president then attacked the integrity of Brazil's electronic voting system without any evidence to back up his accusations. A political scientist at the Insper business school, Carlos Melo, said the "extreme right is very strong across Brazil."

Melo noted that Lula winning in the second round is now "less likely" with Bolsonaro seen to arrive with "a lot of strength for re-election." Some polls implied that Lula could first win over 50% of valid votes.

Bolsonaro supporter 63-year-old Maria Lourdes de Noronha said only fraud could stop Bolsonaro from winning. De Noronha noted that they will "not accept it" if Bolsonaro loses, adding that the polls in the country, "the media, and journalists" are "liars" and "shameless."

Bolsonaro's administration has been known to have removed environmental and indigenous protections in favor of commercial farmers and wildcat miners. The right-wing Brazilian president also pushed an anti-gay and anti-abortion agenda.

Brazil Election

Bolsonaro said he will accept the election result "if they are clean elections," adding that "may the best" candidate win, CNN reported

Bolsonaro and his conservative Liberal Party have claimed that the country's electronic ballot system is susceptible to fraud. The claims were unfounded and without any evidence to back them up.

The allegations have also drawn comparisons to the fraudulent election claims of former President Donald Trump. The Supreme Electoral Court has also rejected the allegations of flaws in the system. They dubbed it as "false and untruthful," and it has no base in reality.

Meanwhile, Bolsonaro is supported by evangelical leaders. But he has been widely slammed by opposition and citizens for his COVID-19 pandemic response, wherein 686,000 people in Brazil have died from the virus.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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