A polarised Brazilian electorate went to the ballots amid allegations of voter suppression yesterday in a tense runoff that pits far-right incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro against leftist former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The vote serves as a referendum on two starkly different — and vehemently opposed — visions for Brazil’s future.
Bolsonaro has vowed to consolidate a sharp rightward turn in Brazilian politics after a presidency that witnessed one of the world’s deadliest Covid-19 epidemics and widespread deforestation in the Amazon basin.
Lula promises more social and environmental responsibility, evoking the rising prosperity of his 2003-2010 presidency, before corruption scandals tarnished his Workers Party.
Some 120mn voters are expected to punch their choices into electronic voting machines that Bolsonaro has criticised without proof as fraud-prone, raising concern he may not concede defeat, following the example of his ideological ally, former US president Donald Trump.
That has added to tensions in Brazil’s most polarising election since its return to democracy in 1985 after a military dictatorship that Lula, a former union leader, rallied against and Bolsonaro, a former army captain, invokes with nostalgia.
The Superior Electoral Court (TSE), which runs Brazil’s elections, played down reports that the Federal Highway Police (PRF) had conducted illegal roadblocks of buses carrying voters across the poor northeast where Lula’s support is strongest.
Critics allege the PRF has become overtly pro-Bolsonaro, and that officers were seeking to hinder voting in Lula strongholds.
But Alexandre de Moraes, a Supreme Court justice who is also head of the TSE, said no-one had been prevented from voting and all police operations on roads had ceased and would be investigated.
“The only issue for voters was that they were delayed,” Moraes told a news conference.
The PRF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Brazil’s sharp partisan division has split its population in two.
With Bolsonaro stickers on her chest, Rio de Janeiro resident Ana Maria Vieira said she was certain to vote for the president, and would never countenance picking Lula.
“I saw what Lula and his criminal gang did to this country,” she said, as she arrived to vote in Rio’s Copacabana neighbourhood, adding that she thought Bolsonaro’s handling of the economy had been “fantastic.”
In Sao Paulo, 31-year-old lawyer Gerardo Maiar said he was horrified by what Bolsonaro had done as president.
“The last four years were an embarrassment, both nationally and internationally,” he said after voting. “I think it’s ridiculous for Brazil to be in this shameful position.”
Several polls showed the race between them tightening in the final week, with Bolsonaro eroding a slight lead for Lula. Others show a small but steady advantage for Lula.
Bolsonaro outperformed opinion polls in the first round on October 2 among a field of 11 candidates. Pollsters said they recalibrated their methods based on that result, but most analysts still say yesterday’s runoff could go either way.
Bolsonaro voted early yesterday at a military base in Rio.
“Our expectation is victory, for the good of Brazil,” he told journalists after voting.
Lula voted at a school in São Bernardo do Campo, in Sao Paulo, where he arrived with his running mate Geraldo Alckmin and other members of his team.
A Lula victory would mark a stunning comeback for the leftist leader, who was jailed in 2018 for 19 months on bribery convictions that the Supreme Court overturned last year, clearing the way for him to seek a third presidential term.
Lula has vowed a return to state-driven economic growth and social policies that helped lift millions out of poverty during a commodity boom when he first governed Brazil. He also vows to combat destruction of the Amazon rainforest, now at a 15-year high, and make Brazil a leader in global climate talks.
A second term for Bolsonaro would keep Brazil on a path of free-market reforms and looser environmental protections, while cementing a coalition of right-wing parties and powerful farm interests, which bankrolled his campaign.
Brazil’s electoral authorities are preparing for a narrow result, which Bolsonaro may contest if he loses.
The president has spent more than a year questioning the reliability of Brazil’s electronic voting system. Although there has been no evidence of fraud since it was implemented in 1996, many of Bolsonaro’s supporters now doubt the credibility of the country’s elections.
A rising tide of political violence this year, punctuated in recent weeks by armed confrontations involving high-profile Bolsonaro allies, has added to fears that a contested result could trigger unrest.
The TSE, led by justices from the Supreme Court, has devised a security plan to protect its staff and buildings in the event of demonstrations like the January 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol. Bolsonaro’s allies were organising a “victory party” on Brasilia’s central esplanade yesterday during the vote count.
The president has also asked supporters to remain at voting stations until they close, which critics say could intimidate voters and lead to clashes.
Lula, who was born into poverty and led union strikes against Brazil’s military government before founding the Workers Party in the 1980s, has called on voters to defend Brazil’s democracy from Bolsonaro’s “neofascism.”
Adding to the climate of uncertainty, Bolsonaro has pushed the military to endorse publicly his theory that the voting system is vulnerable to fraud.
The armed forces checked some voting machines during the first-round vote to be sure paper receipts matched results transmitted digitally, but did not report their findings.
Retired army generals have told Reuters they trust the armed forces would not back any unconstitutional moves by Bolsonaro.
Brazilian President and re-election candidate Jair Bolsonaro flashes the ‘victory’ sign as he votes at a polling station in Rio de Janeiro yesterday. Right: The former president (2003-2010) and candidate for the leftist Workers Party (PT) Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gestures after casting his vote at a polling station in Sao Paulo. (AFP)
