Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro vote in Brazil's runoff as polls show a near tie

Voting under way

Brazilians went to the polls on Sunday, 25 October 2026, to choose between President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and right-wing senator Flavio Bolsonaro in the presidential runoff. About 158 million citizens were eligible to vote, and voting is compulsory for literate people aged 18 to 70. In Madrid, the Brazilian consul general said 23,000 Brazilians were registered to vote there and that turnout had risen compared with the first round. Thousands of Brazilian voters also queued at a polling station in Miami, United States. Heavy rain fell over the Rio de Janeiro region during the day.

Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro cast their ballots

Lula voted at about 9:40 in a school polling station in Sao Bernardo do Campo, in São Paulo state, the town where he began his political career as a union leader in the 1960s. The 80-year-old president thanked supporters for a large rally on Avenida Paulista in São Paulo on Saturday, 24 October. He then went back to São Paulo, where he planned to follow the count at a hotel with family and supporters. Before voting, Lula called his rival a liar and said voters were choosing between him and a man who could not tell a single truth. He also pointed to political violence, including an attack on a PT councillor in Minas Gerais and reports of assaults in Mato Grosso do Sul, and he urged acceptance of the result.

Flavio Bolsonaro voted at about 8:20 in a municipal school in Vila Isabel, in northern Rio de Janeiro, accompanied by his wife Fernanda and his mother Rogeria. He told reporters that the country needed a change and urged people to vote whatever the weather. After casting his ballot he flew to Brasilia to follow the count with family and allies, as he had in the first round.

Final polls and the first round

Final polls published on Saturday, 24 October show a near tie. Europa Press and RP Online report a 51 to 49 lead for Bolsonaro in the latest Quaest or Datafolha surveys, a gap within the margin of error. Rzeczpospolita lists five polls with Bolsonaro between 46.3 and 49.9 percent and Lula between 45.0 and 48.4 percent, and notes that Bolsonaro led in most of them. Rzeczpospolita also gives Datafolha at 48 to 47 and Quaest at 46 to 45, so the figures reported across outlets do not match. In the first round in early October, Bolsonaro took 47 percent and Lula 45 percent. Rzeczpospolita puts about 21 percent of eligible voters, or 33 million people, among those who did not vote, which commentators it quotes see as a sign of deep political polarization. Lula won the 2022 runoff against Jair Bolsonaro with 50.9 percent of the vote to 49.1 percent.

Campaign pledges and the stakes

Flavio Bolsonaro, 45, is the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted over an attempted coup against Lula, according to RP Online. Flavio Bolsonaro says he would take a hard line on crime, add half a million prison places and cut state spending. He has also said he would pardon his father and the other participants in the coup attempt if elected. Polls cited by Rzeczpospolita show violent crime and public safety as voters' top concern, followed by health care, the economy and cost of living, then corruption and education. Rzeczpospolita says the result will shape Brazil's ties with the United States, China and Europe, and the protection of the Amazon rainforest.

What comes next

The articles were written while ballots were still being counted, so no official result has been reported yet. Lula is following the count in São Paulo and Flavio Bolsonaro in Brasilia. Lula's party said it hoped to win the election. The two candidates were separated by a gap inside the polling margin of error at the close of the campaign.