Brasilia [Brazil] October 26 : Brazilian media has projected Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party (PT) to win the country's presidential runoff election, holding an unassailable lead over right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party (PL), according to a report by Bahia Notícias.
Electoral data cited in the report show Lula securing 51.67 per cent of the valid vote, tallying 59,556,789 votes, compared to 48.33 per cent garnered by Flávio Bolsonaro, who received 55,699,832 votes.
According to the latest vote tabulation figures, a total of 119,086,628 ballots were cast, representing a voter turnout of 80.94 per cent.
The tally recorded 115,256,621 valid votes, while blank ballots stood at 1,324,805 (1.11 per cent) and null votes reached 2,505,202 (2.10 per cent).
The official voter abstention rate was recorded at 19.06 per cent, representing 28,046,421 electors who did not cast their ballots.
According to Brasil 247, the 2026 election is the largest in Brazil's history, with 158.7 million people eligible to vote. Around 86% of the electorate is subject to mandatory voting, while voting is optional for 14%. Nearly 89% of registered voters have biometric records, which are used to facilitate identification at polling stations.
According to Al Jazeera, Brazil’s 2022 presidential election was among the closest in the country’s history.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro in the October 30 runoff, securing 50.9 per cent of the vote against Bolsonaro’s 49.1 per cent, a difference of approximately 2.1 million votes, Al Jazeera reported.
Bolsonaro outperformed expectations in the first round, reducing Lula’s lead despite trailing him in pre-election opinion polls.
During the runoff vote count, Bolsonaro initially took the lead before Lula moved ahead as more ballots were counted. Bolsonaro did not immediately concede defeat following the announcement of the results, the news report added.