Brazilians are voting today, Sunday, in the presidential runoff between incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, with polling stations open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Brasília time and about 158.7 million voters called to the electronic voting machines.
Flávio Bolsonaro voted early, at about 8:20 a.m., at the Escola Municipal Barão Homem de Mello in Vila Isabel, in Rio de Janeiro's North Zone, accompanied by his wife and Rio's newly elected governor. He called for change — "Brasil não aguenta mais" ("Brazil can't take it anymore") — and urged supporters to turn out. Lula voted later in the morning in São Bernardo do Campo, his electoral home in greater São Paulo.
The runoff was forced after the first round on October 4, when Flávio took 47.03% of the valid votes (56,104,503) against Lula's 45.16% (53,879,538) — a gap of about 2.2 million votes, with neither man reaching the 50% needed to win outright. Final polls published Saturday showed a technical tie, with aggregates putting Flávio at about 51% and Lula at about 49%, inside the margin of error.
Voting is compulsory in Brazil for most literate adults aged 18 to 70. Women make up about 52.8% of the electorate, and about 919,000 Brazilians abroad are also eligible — the largest overseas electorate on record, with the United States holding the biggest share. Early reports from overseas ballots, where polls in Asia and Oceania closed first, showed Flávio ahead in those votes. No major disruption had been reported in the early hours, and results begin publishing from the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) once polls close at 5 p.m. Brasília time (4 p.m. ET).
What America is watching: the United States has imposed tariffs of up to 50% on some Brazilian goods amid tensions with Lula's government, and Washington wants preferential access to Brazil's large untapped rare-earth and critical-mineral reserves to cut China's grip on the supply chains. A Flávio government is seen as more open to bilateral trade deals and Western minerals partnerships, and he has signalled readiness to join U.S.-led security initiatives such as the "Shield of the Americas" against drug trafficking and to designate Brazilian criminal groups as foreign terrorist organizations — steps Lula resisted as threats to Brazil's sovereignty. A Lula win would continue his push for autonomy and closer ties with China.
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