BRASILIA — Brazilians voted on Sunday in the first round of their country’s most polarized election in decades, with leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expected…
Most opinion polls have shown Lula with a solid lead for months, but Bolsonaro has signaled he may refuse to accept defeat, stoking fears of institutional crisis or post-election violence. A message projected on Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue ahead of the vote read: “Peace in the Elections.”Sign up to receive daily headline news from Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
Beloved by his fans, Lula is also loathed by many Brazilians for his graft conviction. Bolsonaro often refers to him as “the inmate.” The leftist was jailed during the last election, serving time for a conviction later overturned by the Supreme Court, allowing him to face his rival Bolsonaro this year.
Bolsonaro voted in Rio, and said he expected to win the election in Sunday’s first round, despite his poor showing in surveys. The former army captain does not trust the pollsters, saying their results do not correspond with the support at his campaign events.Article content Bolsonaro has threatened to contest the result of the vote, after making baseless allegations of fraud, accusing electoral authorities of plotting against him and suggesting the military should conduct a parallel tally, which they declined to do.
Though Lula leads the presidential race, Bolsonaro’s conservative coalition is expected to hold a majority in both chambers of Congress. That could present challenges for the leftist to govern a country with rising hunger, high unemployment and an uneven recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.Article content
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