Brazil Holds Tense Presidential Runoff Between Lula and Bolsonaro

Brazilians headed to the polls on Sunday to vote in a high-stakes presidential runoff. The race is between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — known as Lula — and Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro. The two candidates are nearly tied in polls, making the outcome hard to predict. The winner will lead Brazil, the largest country in Latin America, starting in January.

The election has been intense from the start. Voters are divided over big issues like the cost of living, crime, and whether Brazil's democracy is safe. Corruption charges against both candidates have made the race even more bitter. Many Brazilians feel very strongly about which side they support.

In the first round of voting earlier this month, Bolsonaro got about 2.2 million more votes than Lula. But more than 33 million eligible voters still did not show up, even though voting is required by law in Brazil. That left the race wide open for the runoff. Both campaigns worked hard to win over undecided voters before Sunday.

The two candidates have very different ideas about how to run the country. Bolsonaro wants tougher action on crime and lower food prices. He is also close to U.S. President Donald Trump and says Brazil should make better deals with the United States. Lula, who led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, wants to focus on helping poor and working-class people.

Bolsonaro's campaign has been hurt by a money scandal. He admitted to receiving about $12 million from a disgraced banker to make a film about his father's life. He is now under investigation for corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion. These legal troubles have cast a shadow over his run for the presidency.

Lula also has a complicated past. He once spent more than a year in prison on corruption charges, though those convictions were later thrown out. To win over voters before the runoff, his government recently backed a plan to help small businesses with debt and promised free public transportation on weekends. The Senate also approved ending the six-day work week, a popular idea that Lula supported.

Lula cast his vote in the city of São Bernardo do Campo, where he got his start as a union leader in the 1960s. He thanked supporters for their energy and care. "It is a lot of generosity, a lot of care, a lot of love. I will be forever grateful," Lula said. His supporters have long admired his efforts to lift Brazilians out of poverty.

Luzia da Souza, a bar owner in Rio de Janeiro, has supported Lula for years. "Lula is a man of the people and he knows what it's like to be poor," she said. Anderson Falcão, a journalist in Brasilia, wore a red shirt in support of Lula and said he worried that Bolsonaro's plans would hurt workers, women, and the Amazon rainforest. Both voters said this election felt deeply personal to them.

Bolsonaro's supporters, many wearing Brazil's yellow and green soccer jerseys, said they voted for change. Fabianne Borges Santoro, a 45-year-old from Rio de Janeiro, said the ruling Workers' Party has been connected to too much corruption. "Things are really expensive and taxes are too high," she said. Others said they simply preferred Bolsonaro's economic plans for the country.

Some voters were caught in the middle. Kelvin Gomes Pimental, a 28-year-old data analyst, voted for a third-party candidate in the first round but eventually chose Lula. He said he was worried about Bolsonaro's ties to his father, who is accused of trying to overthrow the government after losing the last election. "He wanted to stage a coup," Kelvin said. "These issues scare me a little."

President Trump has played a notable role in this election. Trump placed high tariffs on Brazilian goods and labeled certain drug-trafficking groups as terrorist organizations — moves some experts believe were meant to make Lula look weak on crime. Bolsonaro welcomed his relationship with Trump and said it could help Brazil get better trade deals. Brazil is also home to one of the world's largest deposits of rare-earth minerals, materials used in technology, making it a valuable partner for the U.S.

The winner of the race could also shape Brazil's highest court for years to come. The next president will choose at least three of the eleven Supreme Court justices due to upcoming retirements. That gives the winner a great deal of long-term power over the country's laws. Because Brazil uses electronic voting, results were expected within hours after polls closed at 5 p.m. local time.