Bolsonaro Leads Brazil Vote as Lula Runoff Is Set

Flávio Bolsonaro led Brazil’s first-round presidential vote with about 47% of valid ballots, ahead of incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at about 45%, but neither secured the more than half needed to win outright. The two candidates will face each other in a runoff scheduled for October 25, according to official results reported with more than 99% of ballots counted. The Superior Electoral Court figures put Bolsonaro, a Liberal Party candidate, in first place and Lula, the Workers Party candidate, second. A separate account gave more precise percentages of 47.03% for Bolsonaro and 45.16% for Lula, with approximate vote totals of 56.1 million and 53.9 million, respectively. Because the official count was still incomplete in the results account, final certified totals were not established in the material available. Brazilian electoral rules require a candidate to receive more than half of valid votes to win in the first round. Since neither candidate crossed that threshold, the top two advance to the runoff. The October 25 vote will determine the presidency; the first-round result does not settle who will take office.