A runoff watched around the world

Brazilians go to the polls on Sunday 25 October 2026 to elect a president in a runoff vote that is being closely watched around the world. The contest pits incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva against Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Neither candidate secured an outright win in the first round, which is why voters have returned for a decisive second round.

Lula, aged 80, is seeking a fourth non-consecutive term as president. His challenger finished ahead of the incumbent in the first round, according to reporting of the campaign, and entered the final days as the narrow favourite in some polling. Other final polls, however, put the two candidates about level, leaving the outcome uncertain as voting began.

What the final polls showed

Polls published on Saturday showed Bolsonaro and Lula broadly neck and neck in the closing days. A Datafolha poll reported by Reuters put Bolsonaro on 47 percent and Lula on 46 percent, a gap within the poll's two-point margin of error. The poll surveyed 2,154 people between 20 and 22 October, with 5 percent saying they would cast a blank ballot and 2 percent undecided.

That picture matters because it means the runoff cannot be read as settled before votes are counted. Small shifts in turnout, particularly among voters who did not take part in the first round, could decide a contest separated by such a narrow margin.

Campaign themes and the wider stakes

The campaign closed with both candidates holding final rallies on Saturday and making a last push for undecided voters. Lula told supporters at a rally in Rio de Janeiro that people wanted change but wanted to move forward rather than go backward, before leading another march in Sao Paulo.