Lateinamerika: Wahllokale in Brasilien geschlossen – Auszählung begonnen

In Brazil, voting stations have closed after the presidential election. Recent polls indicated that the incumbent left-wing leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the right-wing senator, Flávio Bolsonaro, were neck and neck without reaching the absolute majority needed for a win. This suggests a runoff election on October 25th. Besides the two frontrunners, ten other candidates participated, but lagged significantly in the polls.

Preliminary results are expected in Germany on Monday night. Around 159 million Brazilians were eligible to vote in the largest country in Latin America. Apart from the president and vice-president, lawmakers, senators, and governors were also chosen. Lula, from the Workers' Party PT, intends to continue his policies with social programs and public investments.

Flávio Bolsonaro, from the Liberal Party PL, son of the current house-arrested former President Jair Bolsonaro, promised a leaner state and a tougher approach to crime. If elected, he also aimed to secure an amnesty for his father, who had been sentenced to over 27 years in prison for involvement in a coup plot. The campaign was also marked by disputes over corruption, the Supreme Court, and Brazil's relationship with the USA.

No indications of foreign interference were found. The President of the Supreme Electoral Court TSE, Nunes Marques, stated during a press conference that intelligence reports had found no concrete evidence of foreign influence on the election. He commented on this in response to inquiries, following the USA closing its consulate in Brazil on Friday for security reasons.

Incidents occurred sporadically during election day. In Cupira, Pernambuco state, a 68-year-old man reportedly died after collapsing while voting. The voting at that station was temporarily halted, and the cause of death remains unknown.