Brazilian Elections Head to Runoff Between Bolsonaro, Lula

A day after an inconclusive presidential election, Brazil is now bracing for a frantic four-week campaign ahead of a runoff vote that will pit leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva against Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right incumbent president.

Official returns from Sunday's first round showed da Silva, a former two-term president universally known as Lula, with 48.4% compared to 43.2% for Bolsonaro. The remaining votes went to nine other candidates.

Brazil's presidential election sparked a second round of voting after neither major-party candidate received more than 50% of the votes.

With more than 99% of the vote counted, former president and left-wing candidate Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva led incumbent right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro with 48.4% of the vote, according to results released by Brazil’s Electoral Superior Court. Bolsonaro received 43.2% as of Sunday evening.

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who governed Brazil between 2003 and 2010, came close to winning his old job back in an outright victory in the country’s presidential election on Sunday, as voters expressed their rejection of incumbent Jair Bolsonaro. However, the former president didn’t obtain quite the margin he had hoped.