Brazil's 159 Million Voters Settle Tied Presidential Runoff on Sunday

A tied presidential runoff in Brazil will be decided on Sunday by close to 159 million eligible voters.

Flávio Bolsonaro took the first round on 4 October with 47% against incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's 45%, and polls since then have shown the pair running even. No candidate has recovered from a first-round loss to win the runoff since democracy returned to Brazil in the 1980s.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of Lula supporters wearing red marched along the 2.5-mile stretch of Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro under strong sun. Activists carried a yellow and green banner reading "WE ARE GOING TO TURN THIS AROUND!" Truck driver Josias Silva, 61, carried a homemade placard reading "Lula re-elected. Tomorrow will be a new day" and predicted Lula would take more than 60% of the vote; polls point to a far closer result.

Lula's campaign has climbed in recent days amid reporting on his opponent. The magazine Piauí reported that Flávio Bolsonaro attended a 2020 boat party with sex workers and vaccine lobbyists seeking a deal with his father's government during the coronavirus outbreak.

Jair Bolsonaro, president from 2019 to 2022, is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election to Lula. Some democrats worry his son's victory could free him or return him to government, and Brazilian press reports say several jailed or exiled co-plotters could receive senior military and police posts. Restaurateur Marta Moraes, 59, said her objection was to "Bolsonarismo" rather than the right as a whole.

In Belo Horizonte, thousands gathered at Praça da Liberdade in Brazil's yellow football jersey, waving Brazilian and US flags. Minas Gerais holds the country's second-largest electorate, and no candidate has won the presidency without carrying it; Bolsonaro led there by just under 5% in the first round. Lula's supporters gathered in a WhatsApp group called "Lula's Army," formed after the first round, which has 10 million members. Retired teacher Isabella Gaze, 64, said: "This isn't a normal election." Bolsonaro backers at Praça da Liberdade defended his security message, with shooting club owner Antonio Carlos Costa Jr., 59, saying Jair Bolsonaro gave citizens the right to defend themselves and his son would do the same.

Lula tightened gun rules after Jair Bolsonaro loosened them in a way security experts say diverted firearms to criminal gangs. Architect Erika Cavalcante, 43, carried a sign at the Rio march reading "Don't let the mobsters win."