None of the candidates in the first round of the presidential elections in Brazil were able to gather more than 50 percent of the votes required for victory. Modern.az reports that "Reuters" spread information about this.
Thus, in the second round to be held on October 25, the candidate of the Liberal Party, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, and the current president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva will compete.
According to the official information of the Supreme Electoral Court, after 99.70 percent of the ballots were counted, Bolsonaro collected 47.09 percent, that is, more than 56 million votes. Lula da Silva received 45.09 percent - more than 53.6 million votes.
Thus, according to the results of the voting held on October 4, Bolsonaro surpassed the current president by 2 percentage points or approximately 2.39 million votes.
Bolsonaro's result exceeded the predictions of pre-election polls. Polls published before the election showed Lula da Silva leading Bolsonaro by approximately 3 percentage points in the first round.
Among the main topics of the election campaign in the first round were issues related to price increases, corruption and the daily safety of citizens.
"Brazil wants change, this is how what happened today can be interpreted," Bolsonaro told reporters after the results were announced.
Senator Flavio Bolsonaro is the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempting to organize a coup after losing the 2022 presidential election.
Lula da Silva, on the other hand, admitted that he expected to win in the first round.
"Tomorrow we start a new campaign. I am very strong in the play-off stage. Let's see whose plan will be better," Lula da Silva said in his address to supporters in San Paolo.
In total, more than 124.9 million of approximately 158.7 million registered voters participated in the elections. Voter turnout was 78.93 percent.
