Brazil’s Lula and Bolsonaro close campaigns ahead of critical election

What the report says

Brazil’s presidential race is entering a high-stakes finish as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro ended their campaigns ahead of Sunday’s first-round vote. Al Jazeera reported that both men projected confidence, even as polls released on Saturday indicated Lula remained ahead but with a shrinking margin and no clear path to an outright win.

Lula closed his re-election effort with a march in Sao Paulo, where his team said the event drew a record crowd for a final rally. He cast the election as a contest between democracy and authoritarian politics and warned against outside interference, including from Washington. Bolsonaro campaigned in Sao Paulo state and then in Rio de Janeiro, using a motorcycle caravan and emphasizing that he believed victory in the first round was still possible.

The vote matters beyond the presidency because nearly 160 million registered voters will also choose lawmakers, governors and senators. If no candidate wins a majority on Sunday, the election would go to a runoff on October 25. Al Jazeera noted that the race is much tighter than Lula’s 2022 victory and that the contest has been shaped by broader disputes over living costs, foreign influence and confidence in Brazil’s electoral system.

The campaign has also been shadowed by legal and political controversies surrounding the Bolsonaro family. According to Al Jazeera, Jair Bolsonaro remains imprisoned after a conviction tied to efforts to overturn the 2022 result, while Flavio Bolsonaro faces scrutiny over a film-financing case and related legal questions.