CNN
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As election day approaches in Brazil, the 2 main presidential candidates – former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and present chief Jair Bolsonaro – have stepped up efforts to woo voters.
But that is an arduous activity in a rustic the place 85% of voters say they’ve already made up their minds, in keeping with a Datafolha ballot launched Thursday.
For da Silva, who is usually known as Lula, extra votes might imply victory within the first spherical of voting, without having for a runoff. Meanwhile, Bolsonaro must catch up, as he slips 14 factors behind his rival, in keeping with the identical survey.
Brazilians will vote for his or her subsequent president on Sunday, October 2, within the first spherical of the elections. On the identical date, governors, senators, federal and state deputies for the nation’s 26 states plus the federal district can even be chosen.
Voting is scheduled to start out at 8 a.m. native time in Brasilia (7 a.m. ET) and concludes at 5 p.m. native (4 p.m. ET).
In the Brazilian electoral system, a successful candidate should achieve greater than 50% of the vote. If no candidate crosses that threshold, a second spherical of voting will probably be organized, wherein the choices will probably be narrowed right down to the 2 frontrunners from the primary spherical.
In Brazil, opinion polls at all times estimate candidates’ potential efficiency within the first spherical (competing towards with all different candidates) and within the second spherical (with simply two high candidates).
Over 156 million Brazilians are eligible to vote.
Bolsonaro and Lula are by far the candidates to observe. Though different candidates are additionally within the race, they’re polling with one-digit percentages and are unlikely to pose a lot competitors.
Lula, 76, was Brazil’s President for 2 phrases – from 2003 to 2006 and 2007 to 2011. A family identify, he first got here into the political scene within the Nineteen Seventies as a frontrunner of employee strikes which defied the navy regime.
In 1980, he was one of many founders of the Workers’ Party (PT), which went on to turn out to be Brazil’s principal left-wing political drive. Lula’s presidential phrases had been marked by packages aimed toward decreasing poverty and inequality within the nation but in addition rocked by revelations of a corruption scheme involving the fee of congressional representatives to help authorities proposals. Due to lack of proof of his involvement, Lula himself was by no means included within the investigation of this scheme.
Lula’s marketing campaign for the presidency now guarantees a brand new tax regime that can permit for increased public spending. He has vowed to finish starvation within the nation, which has returned through the Bolsonaro authorities. Lula additionally guarantees to work to cut back carbon emissions and deforestation within the Amazon.
Bolsonaro is a former military captain who was a federal deputy for 27 years earlier than operating for President in 2018. A marginal determine in politics throughout a lot of this time, he emerged within the mid-2010s as a number one determine of a extra radically right-wing motion, which perceived the PT as its principal enemy.
As a President, Bolsonaro has pursued a conservative agenda, supported by necessary evangelical leaders. His authorities additionally turned recognized for its help for ruthless exploitation of land within the Amazon, resulting in file deforestation figures. Environmentalists have warned that the way forward for the rainforest might be at stake on this election.
In his program, Bolsonaro guarantees to extend mining, privatize public corporations and generate extra sustainable power to carry down power costs. He has vowed to proceed paying a R$600 (roughly US$110) month-to-month profit generally known as Auxilio Brasil.
Vote counting begins proper after ballots (principally digital) shut on Sunday.
Brazil’s electoral authorities say they anticipate closing outcomes from the primary spherical to be formally introduced that night, on October 2. They will probably be printed on the electoral courtroom’s web site.
In the previous couple of elections, outcomes had been formally declared two to a few hours after voting completed. If the main candidate doesn’t handle to muster greater than half of all legitimate votes, a second spherical will happen on October 30.
Observers will probably be watching intently to see if all candidates settle for the vote consequence publicly. Bolsonaro, who has been accused of firing up supporters with violent rhetoric, has sought to sow doubts concerning the consequence and mentioned that the outcomes ought to be thought-about suspicious if he doesn’t achieve “at least 60%.”
Both he and his conservative Liberal Party claimed that Brazil’s digital poll system is inclined to fraud – a wholly unfounded allegation that has drawn comparisons to the false election claims of former US President Donald Trump.
There have been no confirmed cases of voter fraud within the digital poll in Brazil.
The Supreme Electoral Court has additionally rejected claims of flaws within the system, as “false and untruthful, with no base in reality.”