Lula supporter crying with joy while holding a big photo of Lula during a political rally. Photo: Reuters.
The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) of Brazil counted the votes for the elections held this Sunday, October 2, in the South American country, indicating that there will be a second round between the candidates who received the most votes, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro.
The second round is scheduled to be held on October 30, according to the schedule established by the electoral authority.
Through its website, the electoral body reported that with 99.86% of votes scrutinized, the candidate and leader of the Workers’ Party (PT), Lula, has 48.39 percent, which represents 57.14 million votes.
In turn, the current Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro only managed to reach 43.23%, representing 51.04 million votes.
#ULTIMOMINUTO | El Tribunal Superior Electoral de Brasil anuncia segunda vuelta presidencial entre los candidatos Lula da Silva y Jair Bolsonaro
Los próximos comicios se realizaran el 30 de octubre pic.twitter.com/mSZ5IbmcTP
— teleSUR TV (@teleSURtv) October 3, 2022
In third place was feminist candidate Simone Tebet with 4.16% and former minister Ciro Gomes, was fourth with 3.05%. The other runners have so far gotten less than 1 percent.
The president of the TSE, Alexandre de Moraes, presented totals for the day and reiterated that “mathematically it is already determined that there will be a ballotage.”
“We had an entire day of elections in absolute calm, which obviously does not mean that there were not some isolated events, like in any other election, but we reached the end of the day with the certainty that the Electoral Court once again fulfilled its constitutional mission of guaranteeing security and transparency in the elections,” he stressed.
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The elections official added that “Brazilian society demonstrated its degree of democratic maturity. The male and female voters went to the polling stations, voted, chose their candidates in absolute peace and security. I thank all those who in one way or another participated in this festival of democracy.”
“We had half the blank and null votes compared to the 2018 election, for example, when we had 8.8%. So of the 80 percent who attended today we had 4.20 percent, that is, approximately 7,500,000 of those who voted, refrained from voting null or blank. Perhaps because it is a tight race, or polarized election, and that is why people voted more,” he said.
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The polling stations opened at 08:00 local time (11:00 GMT) and closed at 17:00 (20:00 GMT), ready for the more than 156 million eligible voters to exercise their right to vote, and the turnout was 80% according to De Moraes’ statements.
This first round of the presidential elections can be won by the candidate who receives more than 50 percent of the votes. Otherwise, there will be a second round between the two candidates who had the most support and it will take place on October 30.
On this day, 27 governors, the 583 deputies, a third of the Senate were also elected, and the representatives in the legislative assemblies are renewed.
Many Lula supporters where expecting a victory in the first round despite polls showing that he had an “intention to vote” rating close to the final result. What polls did not count properly was the vote that Bolsonaro could get and that reality surpassed even the expectations of Bolsonaro supporters.
(Telesur) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/EF
