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Tens of thousands take to streets in Brazil ahead of closely contested runoff

SBS News Australia •
October 24, 2026 • 11:44 PM
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Polls suggest a neck-and-neck contest between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro in Sunday's presidential runoff.

Tens of thousands take to streets in Brazil ahead of closely contested runoff

Final arguments to voters in Brazil's presidential election were made on the eve of the runoff between incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro.

Tens of thousands of supporters took to the streets hoping to lure the few undecided voters left.

Polls published on Saturday, local time, suggest it will be a nail-biting election on Sunday that could be decided on details.

A victory for Bolsonaro — the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro — would add Brazil to a list of Latin American countries — including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Peru — that have elected allies of US President Donald Trump in recent years.

A win for Lula secures some distance between the region's economic powerhouse and the US.

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The 80-year-old Lula, who lost the first round to the 45-year-old Bolsonaro by more than 2.2 million votes , possibly had the biggest rally of his career on Sao Paulo's key artery, Paulista Avenue.

Bolsonaro brought supporters out in his native Rio de Janeiro and in Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais, the state which for decades has correctly pointed to the winner of the country's election.

Saturday's demonstrations marked the culmination of a push that intensified earlier this month.

Lula, who had a rally in Rio's Copacabana beach in the morning, told supporters "the people have taken it upon themselves to lead the campaign".

Since the 4 October vote, massive leftist demonstrations have taken place in Brazil, a territory that supporters of the president had lost in recent years to voters of former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Almost 160 million Brazilians are eligible to vote. More than 33 million, or 21 per cent of the electorate, did not vote earlier this month, and could face a small fine for failing to cast a ballot without justification. People who missed the first round can vote in the second.

Brazilians cast ballots using electronic voting machines, punching in digits that correspond to their candidates. Results are reported within hours after polls close.

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