Brazilians Head To Polls In Contentious Presidential Election

[Webster]

(BBC News) Brazilians are voting in an election which could see the country switch from a far-right to a left-wing leader. Voting is compulsory with more than 156 million people eligible.

Incumbent Jair Bolsonaro is seeking a second term but faces a challenge from ex-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. After voting, Lula said he wanted to get the country "back to normal". Mr Bolsonaro - who has often questioned the electronic voting system - said "clean elections" must be respected.

Mr Bolsonaro has said in the past that if he loses the election, it will be because the voting was rigged. Brazil's electoral authority has dismissed allegations of a possible rigging as "false and dishonest", but the attacks have raised concerns that Mr Bolsonaro may not accept an outcome unfavourable to him.

Quizzed by journalists on the matter on Sunday, he did not directly answer.

Statements made by the president in the lead-up to the election, such as that only God could remove him from office, have created a tense atmosphere.

A certain nervousness prevailed at two polling stations the BBC visited in Rio as even those wearing Bolsonaro or Lula badges would only provide their first names and refused to have their picture taken. Many voters are showing who they back by either wearing red - the colour of Lula's Workers' Party flag - or the Brazilian football shirt, which is a favourite of President Bolsonaro and his supporters.

But there is also a fair share who have opted for subtlety out of fear they may be challenged by rival supporters. Eighty-seven-year-old Sonia, wearing a blue shirt, lowered her voice when she pointed to her 83-year-old friend Eva, who was wearing green: "If you put our two outfits together, they make up the colours of the Brazilian flag, and that's a sign we back Bolsonaro." "I am a patriot, and I don't want our country to become like Venezuela," she whispered, referring to the fear many Bolsonaro supporters share that a left-wing government could drag Brazil into an economic crisis like the one crippling its northern neighbour.

The two women also think that President Bolsonaro will strengthen family values and combat the breakdown of the traditional family structure as well as make Rio safer so they do not "have to be afraid to go for a walk after dark".

Maria, 54, is also a big fan of Mr Bolsonaro. "There's so many great things he has done, I struggle to narrow it down to a single one," she says before settling on the economy. "Look, he was dealt a really bad hand, he had to face the pandemic and the subsequent economic downturn but he did wonderfully," she gushes. "People say he is authoritarian, but that's not true, it's the opposite, he let's people take their own decisions and weigh up risks for themselves," she says, explaining that his anti-lockdown stance during Covid meant that those living hand-to-mouth were able to go to work.

But José, 45, wants President Bolsonaro out of office. "Bolsonaro and his sons are thugs, plain and simple, they should all be in prison." He voted for the centre-left candidate, Ciro Gomes, in the last election, but this time he will vote for Lula because he thinks he is the only one who can beat President Bolsonaro.

Mark, who works for state-owned oil giant Petrobras, is also casting an "anti-Bolsonaro vote". He says he is no fan of Lula but he strongly objects to Mr Bolsonaro's plans to privatise Petrobras.

 

[Webster]

Vanessa Buschschlüter, BBC News Latin America digital editor in Rio de Janeiro: Many voters have turned up at polling stations in Rio wearing either red - the colour of Lula’s Workers’ Party flag - or the country’s yellow football shirt, which has become closely associated with the Bolsonaro camp.

But with some voters wary after a tense election campaign, there are those who are opting for subtlety. Sonia, 87, who was wearing a blue shirt, lowered her voice when she pointed to her friend Eva, 83, who was wearing green: “If you put our two outfits together, they make up the colours of the Brazilian flag, and that’s a sign we back Bolsonaro.”

“I am a patriot, and I don’t want our country to become like Venezuela,” she whispered, referring to the fear many Bolsonaro supporters share that a left-wing government could drag Brazil into an economic crisis like the one crippling its northern neighbour.

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Juliana Gragnani & Jake Horton, Disinformation team & Reality Check: Voting in Brazil is done electronically, as has been the case since 1996.

Each candidate has a number, and on election day voters type the number of their chosen candidate into a voting machine at polling stations across the country. The votes are then counted by the machines, and the totals are sent electronically to a central office.

Votes from across the country are tallied up and a final result is announced, usually within hours of polls closing.

Each machine also prints out a paper copy of the totals for each candidate.

When polls close, the totals are displayed publicly at polling sites, and each machine's votes can be compared with the total recorded by the electoral court.

This year, for the first time, these paper copies will be published online on the day of the vote.

 

[Webster]

Katy Watson, South America correspondent in São Paulo: This has been billed as the most important vote since Brazil returned to democracy in the 1980s – and that’s because more than 30 years on, there have never been so many doubts about the future of the country's democracy.

Bolsonaro came to power as an anti-establishment figure. He’s long questioned the reliability of the voting system. He's alleged fraud without evidence and it’s a narrative willingly adopted by many supporters who’ve said they won’t accept a win by frontrunner Lula. Another big beef of Bolsonaro’s is the role of the Supreme Court. Its power has grown since he has been in power – supporters of that argue it's an effort to counteract the president undermining the rule of law. Critics maintain the court has gone beyond its remit.

Lula’s critics, meanwhile, say the former president is corrupt and a return to power would be a step back for the country’s democracy. But Brazil has a history of dictatorship, and Bolsonaro has been clear in his support of that dark era of history. The fear among many is that another four years of Bolsonaro will lead to a darker future too.

 

[Webster]

President and far-right candidate to re-election Jair Bolsonaro casts his vote in Rio de Janeiro

Left-wing candidate Lula kisses his electoral confirmation slip after voting in São Paulo

 

[Webster]

(The Guardian) Polls had predicted an outright win for Lula, but a runoff is now looking possible.

In order to be declared the winner, a presidential candidate in Brazil needs to gain more than 50% of the vote.

Polls on the eve of the election suggested Lula – who governed from 2003 to 2010 – was tantalisingly close to securing the overall majority of votes he needs to avoid a second-round runoff against Bolsonaro in late October. One poll gave Lula 51% to Bolsonaro’s 37%, another gave them 50% and 36% respectively.