First modification:
After voting in the metropolitan region of Sao Paulo, former President Lula da Silva assured that they are the most important elections of his life. President Jair Bolsonaro was confident of winning in the first round after casting his vote in Rio de Janeiro.
Brazilians face this Sunday one of the most polarized presidential elections in their recent history. At the polls they will decide between keeping Jair Bolsonaro in the presidency or returning that place to Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva, a great favorite in the polls.
Around 156 million citizens are eligible to vote after a campaign marked by violence, cross-aggressions and accusations of electoral fraud issued by Bolsonaro. Winning in the first round is Lula’s objective, for which she needs at least 50% of the valid votes.
These are the main news of the Brazilian election day, this October 2, 2022:
- 8:20 (BOG) Lula da Silva: “Brazil needs to recover the right to be happy”
At 8 in the morning, local time, the polling stations in Brazil opened for the general elections in what are considered the most polarized elections in the country’s recent history.
Former president Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva is measured against the current head of state, Jair Bolsonaro, for the Presidency of the country. Both are the candidates with the highest vote intention.
‘Lula’, the favorite according to the polls, voted in the city of Sao Bernardo de Campo, in the metropolitan region of Sao Paulo, where he assured that Brazil needs to “recover the right to be happy” and added that “we want a country that lives in peace, with hope and that believes in the future”.
The former president, who governed for two terms between 2003 and 2010, arrived at his polling station just thirteen minutes after the polls opened and described the elections as the “most important” in his personal capacity.
- 8:10 (BOG) Bolsonaro: “In the first round, the elections are decided today”
For his part, President Jair Bolsonaro, second in voting intention according to the polls, cast his vote at a polling station in the Villa Militar in Rio de Janeiro.
The president attended the voting center wearing a yellow and green sports shirt with the national flag printed on the chest. According to the images, it could be seen that the president was wearing a bulletproof vest underneath.
In a brief appearance before the press after voting, the head of state assured that “we are calm. In the first round, the elections are decided today.”
The most recent polls, published on October 1, indicate that Bolsonaro is 14 points below Lula; however, in the event that none of the candidates reaches more than half of the valid votes, the two favorites will have to face each other in a second round scheduled for October 30.
- 8:00 (BOG) – Electoral panorama for the elections in Brazil
156.4 million Brazilians are summoned to the polls to elect the president, 27 governors, 513 deputies, a third of the Senate and renew the representatives in the regional legislative assemblies.
There are nearly half a million electronic ballot boxes installed for these elections, which have a wide security device reinforced with the presence of the Army in more than 568 municipalities.
After the official closure of polling stations nationwide, for the first time in a single schedule, the Superior Electoral Court will begin to disseminate the first bulletins with official results.
The count is expected to end a few hours after the end of the day, thanks to the electronic voting system implemented in Brazil since 1996.
with EFE
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