Brazil votes between Lula and Bolsonaro in election run-off

Voters in Brazil, Latin America's largest nation, have gone to the polls in a run-off to choose between left-wing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and right-wing senator Flávio Bolsonaro. 

“What the people have done for me in these past few days is something I can never repay. It is so much generosity, so much affection, so much love. I will be eternally grateful,” said Lula, adding that he was “confident” the people would not choose Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro, 45, won the first round on 4 October with 47% of the vote, defying pollsters. Lula, 80, took 45%, and neither man secured an outright majority.

A congressman for more than 20 years with few bills passed, the 45-year-old Bolsonaro is the eldest son of the former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest serving a 27-year sentence for attempting a coup to overturn his 2022 defeat to Lula.

“I think the time has come for real change,” said Bolsonaro after voting on Sunday morning at a school in Rio de Janeiro’s north zone. “Brazil can’t take another four years the way things are ... Everyone’s life has got worse.”

Lula, of the left-wing Workers' Party, has been president three times, including from 2003 to 2010. His social welfare programmes, such as Bolsa Família, are widely praised for lifting millions out of poverty.

He spent 18 months in prison between 2018 and 2019 after being convicted of corruption and money laundering, charges he always denied. The convictions were annulled in 2021, and he went on to beat Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 election.

Bolsonaro has promised a heavy-handed approach to crime, with maximum-security jails and cuts to tax and public spending. His first-round win sent markets and the currency soaring on hopes of pro-business reforms.

His Liberal Party and other right-wing parties also did well in the congressional elections. That could clear a legislative path for Bolsonaro or complicate governance for Lula.

Lula has struggled to win over voters despite falling inequality and unemployment. High living costs, heavy household debt and gang violence weigh on many of them.

The race has also turned on accusations of US meddling, which Washington denies. Lula told a crowd on Copacabana beach on Saturday that the vote was a matter of "sovereignty".

US President Donald Trump imposed a 50% tariff on the country in 2025 in a decision explicitly linked to Jair Bolsonaro's trial. He has called the case a "witch hunt" and called Flávio Bolsonaro's first-round result a "very big" victory.

The final polls published on Saturday showed Bolsonaro still slightly ahead.

The result is expected late Sunday evening, and the race is expected to be decided by a narrow margin in Latin America’s largest country, with an electorate of 159 million.