Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT, left), 76, and Jair Bolsonaro (PL, right), 67, will compete in the second round of elections on Oct. 30, 2022.
After counting almost 100% of the votes this Sunday (Oct.2), the Superior Electoral Court confirmed that neither candidate obtained at least 50% + 1 of the valid votes.
In the end, the PT candidate had 56,147,236 votes -48.12% of the valid votes (excluding white, invalid, and abstentions) and could not complete the election in the first round as planned.
In his attempt to be re-elected, Bolsonaro had received 50,717,473 votes (43.47% of valid votes).
At the time of this writing, there were 36.6 million non-votes (abstentions + white and invalid votes).
PT had high expectations of winning the presidential race in the first round and failed in the face of a much stronger-than-expected Bolsonaro.
To avoid a low mood among activists, the party decided to keep the celebration for Sunday evening on Avenida Paulista, a traditional site for political demonstrations in São Paulo.
On Bolsonaro’s side, there were celebrations of his entry into the 2nd round.
The President has four weeks to try to reverse the scenario, which is much better than predicted but not good enough to win.
The election campaign was marked by the typical hostility and criticism that are part and parcel of an election campaign.
That is why confrontation without other opponents will intensify the dispute over the next four weeks.
Bolsonaro had a stronger voter base than anticipated, and Lula da Silva’s power was overestimated and inflated.
It is safe to assume that this trend will continue to be seen over the next four weeks.
The country’s more than 90% leftish journalists and the equally left-leaning establishment will continue to act like Lula da Silva’s victory is inevitable.
However, in the second rounds of elections, the candidate who can make better deals with other parties and promises more glory and development opportunities to their allies often prevails.