Brazil Votes Live: Lula Wins the First Round Over Far-Right Bolsonaro; Run-Off Oct. 30

Lula took the lead as more rural votes counted but failed to reach 50%

Common Dreams Staff Common Dreams
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Former President of Brazil and Candidate for the Worker's Party (PT) Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva waves to supporters during general elections day on October 2, 2022 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. ,(Photo by Rodrigo Paiva/Getty Images)

Brazil’s presidential race will need to go to a October 30th second round after former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva fell short of the 50%+1 he needed to avoid a run-off with extremist incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.

Brazilians voted Sunday in a historic presidential election, with leftist front-runner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who led in the pre-election polls, winning but still short of the 50% he needed to avoid a runoff election.

There are fears the far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro will not accept a defeat after he warned that he will only leave office if he's "killed, jailed, or victorious" and has called on his base to "go to war" if the vote is "stolen."

Bolsonaro took an early lead as results started coming in but in 2014, when Lula's leftist party last won a presidential election, it only took the lead after two hours of vote counting. Results from Brazil’s poorer northeast, Lula's stronghold, take longer to be counted.

Lula eventually took the lead when 70.00% of the vote was counted.

With 98.04% of the vote counted at 8:45pm EDT:

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With 70.00% of the vote counted at 7:02pm EDT:

EARLIER: With 63.45% of the vote counted at 6:54pm EDT:

EARLIER: With 46.46% of the vote counted at 6:35pm EDT:

Lula went into Sunday ahead of Bolsonaro in pre-election polls with 50 percent to 36 percent, according to the final poll from the Datafolha institute.

To win outright and avoid a runoff on October 30th: 50% + 1 votes are needed.

Polls closed at 5:00pm local time (20.00 GMT) or 4:00pm EST.

Official results can be found here: latest Brazil Election Results

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