[Text/ Observer Network Xiong Chaoran] On the evening of October 2 local time, the first round of voting for the Brazilian election officially began. The eye-catching presidential election showed a highly polarized situation. The current presidential Bolsonaro and his left-wing political opponent, former president Lula , fought fiercely, while the vote rate of the other 9 candidates was far less than that of these two.
According to data released by Brazil's Supreme Election Court (TSE), Lula slightly led Bolsonaro's 43.4% with 48.2% of the votes. Since no candidates received more than half of the votes, Lula and Bolsonaro, who ranked in the top two votes, will enter the second round of the runoffs at the end of October.
The Associated Press analyzed that the importance of this election is self-evident. Brazilians will decide whether the left-wing former President Lula will return to power or let the far-right current President Bolsonaro continue to take the helm of the country in the next four years.
Associated Press Screenshot
Reuters pointed out that in multiple polls before the vote, Bolsonaro was considered to be 10 to 15 percentage points behind Lula. The current voting results not only shattered Lula's hope of winning the election in the first round, but only received a slight disadvantage in the number of votes, but also greatly boosted Bolsonaro's election situation. Meanwhile, the report's outlook said that the second round of voting could intensify polarization and the brewing atmosphere of political violence in Brazil.
Reuters report screenshot
On October 2 local time, the first round of voting for the Brazilian election officially began. The voting ended at 17:00 on the same day, and the counting results were also announced that night. The election will elect Brazil's new president, vice president, some members of the federal Senate and House of Representatives, and chief and deputy governors of 26 states and one administrative region. Among them, a total of 11 candidates participated in the competition for the presidency. According to pre-election polls, former President Lula and current President Bolsonaro have led the support.
On the evening of the same day, according to the Brazilian High Election Court's statistics on about 99% of the votes, former President Lula received 48.2% of the votes, and current President Bolsonaro received 43.4% of the votes, ranking first and second in the votes. Among the other nine candidates, the winner of the votes received only about 4.2%.
According to the Brazilian Election Law, in the first round of voting, if a presidential candidate wins more than 50%, it means winning; if no one gets more than half of the votes in the first round of voting, the two candidates with the most votes will decide the winner in the second round of voting held on October 30. Since none of the 11 candidates won more than half of the votes in the first round, according to the election rules, Lula and Bolsonaro, who ranked in the top two votes, will enter the second round and have a one-on-one duel.
The vote rate of Brazil's presidential election in the first round, Lula and Bolsonaro entered the second round (about 99% of the votes were issued)
Reuters said that some poll data before the election showed that Lula had the hope of winning more than half of the valid votes, thereby avoiding entering the second round of the runoff election with other political rivals. On Thursday, September 29, the latest poll released by Brazil's authoritative research organization Datafolha showed that Lula led Bolsonaro by 14 percentage points. After Datafolha ruled out gaps and pending votes, its model found that Lula had a 50% approval rating on the valid vote and Bolsonaro had 36%.
However, as the vote results were announced, this possibility of Lula's victory in the first round gradually faded. The Associated Press quoted expert analysis and pointed out that the results of this election were much more intense than expected, which was reflected not only in the presidential election, but also in the competition for seats between governors and congressmen. Carlos Melo, a professor of political science at Insper University in São Paulo, Brazil, said the far right showed "great resilience" in these elections.
As two giants in contemporary Brazilian politics, Bolsonaro and Lula are completely opposite. Antonio Lavareda, head of Brazil's polling agency Ipespe, described it as "these are two well-known figures, two of the most heavyweight and unique populist leaders in Brazil's political circles in the past 20 years."
67-year-old Bolsonaro is known as "tropical Trump" and is running for re-election on behalf of the conservative Liberal Party, which some US media call "a domineering nationalist."
On September 28, local time, Brazilian President Bolsonaro held an election rally in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The core of his campaign and re-election plan is what he calls freedom and right to freedom: freedom of speech, freedom of life and freedom to use the country's natural resources for the future development, including mining and other agricultural enterprises. Bolsonaro's job creation strategy is based on industrial investment, especially in the field of technology. The former paratrooper also supports expanding citizens’ chances of owning guns from themselves.
However, Bolsonaro's performance in his first term may be a disadvantage. He has been widely criticized at home and abroad at Brazil for improper handling of the new crown epidemic in Brazil, resulting in more than 685,000 deaths and a surge in the area of Amazon deforestation in Brazil during his term of office.
Lula is 76 years old, a Labor Party, and was once a metal processing worker. He has been re-elected for two terms from Brazilian President since 2003. US media calls it "one of the most respected leftist politicians in Latin America."
On October 1, local time, Brazil's Labor Party candidate and former President Lula delivered a speech. Photo from Pengpai Image
During the election campaign, Lula mostly emphasized that Bolsonaro was stepped down, focusing on his previous term. He once stepped down with a 90% approval rating and lifted tens of millions of Brazilians out of extreme poverty through the "family allowance" welfare program.
However, he must also overcome the doubts of voters. In an investigation into state-owned Petrobras, Lula was found guilty of corruption and money laundering in 2017, despite his continued claiming he was innocent. After serving less than two years in prison, a Supreme Court judge declared his conviction of Lula void in March 2021, clearing the way for his sixth presidential campaign.
In this extremely fierce competition, Bolsonaro and Lula are using Twitter , video websites, TV debates and large-scale political rallies to show their positions and attack each other everywhere. The violent remarks of their supporters have made many voters even more afraid of what is about to happen.
On October 2, local time, Curitiba, Brazil, held its first round of voting, and the people participated in the voting. The picture has been since the election campaign of The Paper Image
, without showing evidence, "tropical Trump" Bolsonaro has begun to argue that the electronic voting system may be manipulated, and even said that the system has been tampered with in the past. But US media said that since 1996, Brazil's electronic votes have not shown any fraud records.
At the end of June this year, Bolsonaro also indirectly called out to the United States in an interview with Fox News in the United States. He said that if the left wins in the Brazilian election in October, they will never step down and South America will turn completely red, effectively isolating the United States.
Seeing the presidential candidate wearing bulletproof vest on the streets to run for election, and even the death of candidate supporters one after another, the US media couldn't help but sigh, "In Brazil's fierce presidential election, anything can happen", and also mentioned the riots on the US Capitol Hill last year. After the first round of voting, Reuters said that seeing Bolsonaro's "election fraud theory" and his possible refusal to accept the defeat result may even trigger a institutional crisis in Brazil.
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