Brazil Holds Presidential Runoff Today... Tight Race Between Former and Incumbent Presidents

[Photo by AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The runoff election for the Brazilian presidential election will be held on the 30th (local time).

This runoff election is between former Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and current President Jair Bolsonaro, who received 48.4% and 43.2% of the votes respectively in the first round held on the 2nd. Since no candidate secured a majority vote in the first round to win outright, the top two candidates will compete in the runoff.

Analysts predict a close runoff as President Bolsonaro, who performed well in the first round, has significantly narrowed the gap in support with former President Lula. However, the prevailing forecast is that former President Lula will win by a narrow margin. Lula served as president for eight years from 2003 to 2010.

The runoff will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time on the 30th (5 a.m. KST on the 31st), and the gubernatorial elections in 12 states, which were not decided in the first round, will also be held simultaneously. Brazil operates an electronic voting system, so the election results are expected to be announced about four hours after the polls close.

If President Bolsonaro loses, there are expectations that he may reject the results. He has repeatedly suggested the possibility of electronic voting manipulation and hinted at contesting the election outcome.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.