SAU POLO, OCT 5 (AP): Brazilians voted Sunday in a high-stakes presidential election pitting incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva against Senator Flávio Bolsonaro at a moment when the region is shifting to the right in line with the Trump administration.
Bolsonaro, 45, is the son of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro who is serving a 27-year sentence for a coup attempt and an ally of US President Donald Trump.
Lula, who at 80 is one of the world’s oldest heads of state, is running in his seventh presidential election and has strengthened Brazil’s ties with Beijing.
Trump allies have fared well in recent elections in Latin America, including in Argentina, Colombia, Honduras and Peru.
If none of the 12 presidential candidates gets more than 50 per cent of the vote, the top two will head to a runoff on Oct. 25 in Latin America’s economic powerhouse.
Brazil’s nearly 159 million eligible voters will also elect 27 state governors, members of state legislatures, all 513 federal members of the lower house of congress and 54 of the country’s 81 senators in Sunday’s vote.
Polls closed at 5 p.m. Sunday with those still in line able to vote and a count expected within hours.
