Ballot run of the Brazil 2026 Elections, LIVE: the latest news about today's elections

Brazil 2026 Elections Showdown, LIVE: the latest news on today's polls Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro face off in the polls this Sunday, October 25; what do the polls say Bolsonaro used a Trump tactic to destabilize Lula during the debate The son of the former president positioned himself behind the veteran Lula, 80, and made gestures while he spoke to cameras, which caused tension in the Bandeirantes channel studio, where the hosts paused the showdown for a few minutes. flavio bolsonaro lula debate da band candidate accuses adversary looking at the camera while he passes behind saying that he is not denying gesturing pic.twitter.com/8wjrVB2TD6 — my records 📂 (@meusdocumento) October 19, 2026 According to the Folha de San Pablo newspaper and other media, that tactic was quite by Bolsonaro in the days preceding the first television confrontation with Lula. That move would have been based on a tactic used by Republican Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign against the then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Brazilian electoral justice gives Meta a day to demonstrate that it applies equal treatment to Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro The Brazilian electoral justice provided this Monday, October 24, 24 hours to the company of Mark Zuckerberg to demonstrate that it applies measures to guarantee equal treatment on its networks to the campaigns of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro, less than a week before the presidential runoff. If it does not, the daily fine imposed on the American company, owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, will be one million reais (about $200,000 USD). After the first round, Lula sued Meta for "interference" in the elections and accused it of restricting its content on Instagram and WhatsApp. His party took the complaint to the electoral justice and also to the Organization of American States. Meta denied taking sides in the elections. The company admitted faults, such as the accidental deactivation of ads for Lula's campaign, but attributed them to technical "incidents" that did not only affect Brazil. Lula proposes that Bolsonaro both reveal their bank secrets "Flávio, reveal the bank and telephone secrets, let's do the asset evaluation of each of us to see who stole in this country. I am tired of thieves accusing honest people," said the candidate of the Workers' Party (PT) in a video. "You saw that I made a challenge in Sunday's debate. It is necessary to prove who is corrupt. To see, it was possible that he (Bolsonaro) bought a house (in Brasília) for 10 million reais ($1.9 million) with the same salary as me. I hope he has the courage to show if he is honest," he reinforced. Lula approaches Flavio Bolsonaro and two polls show a difference of less than one point Six days before the runoff in Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva narrowed the gap with Flavio Bolsonaro in three of the four national polls published this Monday. The senator maintains the lead in all of them, but two measurements place the difference below one point. The closest is that of BTG/Nexus: 50.3% for the Liberal Party (PL) candidate and 49.7% for the president, a technical tie that leaves the dispute open for the Planalto Palace. Futura/100% Cities offers a similar picture, with 50.4% for Flavio and 49.6% for Lula. AtlasIntel/Bloomberg also registers an approach by the president, although it maintains the senator ahead: 51.1% against 48.9%. The exception is PoderData/Aya, which shows a recovery of the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro: it went from a result close to a technical tie to 52% against 48%. The percentages correspond to valid votes, meaning the calculation that takes into account and therefore excludes blanks, nulls, and undecided voters and allows comparison of support for the two candidates. They do not equal the percentage over the total interviewed. The distinction carries weight in such a close election. Crossovers in the debate From the start of the face-to-face, both candidates had exchanges. One of the most striking ones was about the accusations regarding judicial investigations against relatives: on one hand, Lula referred to the four-year prison sentence of Eduardo Bolsonaro -Flávio's brother and who is in refuge in Washington- and on the other hand, the opposing candidate mentioned the accusations against Lulinha, the current president's son, for alleged influence peddling. In this line, Lula attacked Bolsonaro and declared: "You are in the United States plotting against Brazil." Then, he insisted on the sentence for Eduardo Bolsonaro and the links of his family with the North American president Donald Trump. Who won the debate between Lula and Bolsonaro and the unusual strategy that went viral SAN PABLO.– Calculated gestures, insults, corruption accusations, and references to Donald Trump and Javier Milei marked the first television debate between Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Flavio Bolsonaro, one week before the presidential runoff in Brazil. But behind the clashes between the leftist president and the far-right senator, one of the main strategies of the night was outside the speeches: to turn every reaction, grimace, and provocation into a viral video for social media. Flavio Bolsonaro, 45, had rehearsed all week with his marketing strategist, Duda Lima, and other members of his team a tactic aimed at generating images of confrontation with Lula, 80. The idea was to position himself behind the president while speaking to the camera, make gestures of disapproval, and maintain an impassive expression to produce scenes that could later be edited and circulated on digital platforms. Bolsonaro gathered a yellow tide to beat Lula and initiate change in Brazil SAN PABLO.– The senator and presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, 45, steps on the accelerator in the final stretch of the campaign for the close elections of the 25th in Brazil. The far-right has gathered a yellow crowd with green outlines, the colors of the flag, on Paulista Avenue in São Paulo, the same avenue that seven days ago was filled with a red tide led by his rival, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 80. "Let's turn that sad page. We have seven days left to free Brazil from the Workers' Party (PT)," proclaimed the senator. Bolsonaro, son of the former president imprisoned for an attempted coup, remains the favorite after winning the first round. The polls point to a tie with a slight advantage for the opposition. The polls give Bolsonaro the lead with 44% to 42% The most recent poll by Quaest, commissioned by the O Globo newspaper, indicates that, in a survey of total votes, Bolsonaro obtains 44% and Lula da Silva 42%. This study can be broken down by strata, among which it is highlighted that the female vote accompanies the current president and the male vote accompanies the liberal reference. A striking fact is the tie at 44% obtained by both candidates in the age group between 16 and 34 years old. Among these voters, neither candidate has an advantage, and this sector is likely to be decisive in the final result of the second round. Who won the debate? According to a poll conducted by the consultant Quaest during the debate, respondents valued Flavio Bolsonaro as the winner with a narrow lead over Lula. On a scale of zero to 100, the senator obtained 82 points, compared to the president's 79 points, according to the poll cited by the O Globo newspaper. The qualitative study was carried out with 30 groups of voters including Lula, Bolsonaro, and undecided voters. "Flavio was perceived as more secure, direct, and clear, especially on public safety and technology issues. Lula had a better perceived performance in health and the pandemic; however, some participants considered that his answers were confusing, saturated with figures, and difficult to follow," the report says. "At the same time, the security shown by Flavio did not dissipate the criticism about the fact that he left unanswered questions and avoided addressing topics where he seemed less prepared," he adds. Milei's scythe and the Trump factor in the presidential debate 🚨 Milei is a great example, Flávio? pic.twitter.com/g7eBs0i1sK — Lula (@LulaOficial) October 19, 2026 International politics also entered the confrontation. Lula accused the Bolsonaro family of being subordinate to American interests and questioned the senator's closeness to Trump. Flavio, for his part, denied asking the North American president to take measures against Brazil and blamed Lula for his relations with governments that he called "dictators," including that of Iran. On the economic front, the senator insisted on the cost of living and insecurity, while accusing the president of spending excessively to secure his re-election. Lula responded with a reference to the Argentine president: he asked if his rival had borrowed Milei's scythe to cut public spending and questioned the social consequences of the adjustment in Argentina. While Bolsonaro avoided directly responding about the scythe, Lula later posted a video on social media in which he recalled his rival's mentions of the "Argentine model." The debate: a duel of gestures and insults The staging also had moments of tension outside the planned exchanges. In one of them, Lula moved away from his rival to create distance from a "militiaman," alluding to Flavio's supposed links to paramilitary groups that control neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro. The senator responded that it was better to keep him away because his wallet could be stolen and showed a written word in his palm: "Corrupt." Flávio Bolsonaro: Stay here next to me, Lula. Relax. I'm not a violent guy. — Clash Report (@clashreport) October 19, 2026 Lula, who seeks a fourth non-consecutive term, also did not spare qualifiers. He called his opponent "clown," "stubborn liar," and "rogue," while Flavio warned him that "Brazil will retire you." Bolsonaro's tactic in the debate The tactic was particularly visible when Lula spoke about health. After Flavio defended that the Unified Health System (SUS) had the same standards of care as the Albert Einstein Hospital and mentioned businessman Claudio Lottenberg as a possible minister for the area, the president insinuated that his rival's proposal could lead to the privatization of the public system. Although he had finished his intervention, the senator remained behind Lula and moved his index finger in a sign of disagreement. - Lula: "Do you know that Bolsonaro will privatize health?" — Nation (@Titanfdc) October 19, 2026 According to members of the Liberal Party (PL) candidate's team, the intention was to divert part of the attention from the president's arguments and concentrate it on his opponent's reactions. Where to vote in Argentina for the second round of the Brazil 2026 elections On election day, Brazilians living in Argentina and registered there must attend the polls to cast their vote. - Date and time: Sunday, October 25, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. - Location: Brazilian Embassy in Buenos Aires, Cerrito 1350, CABA How each candidate gathers votes In general, studies on electoral projections in Brazil maintain a trend that is repeated in the weekly measurements. Regarding the profile of Brazilian voters, the polls highlight that the female vote accompanies the current president and the male vote accompanies the liberal reference. When analyzing voting intention according to educational background, Lula da Silva obtains more votes in the basic education sector, and Bolsonaro in the middle and upper sectors. For the runoff, Bolsonaro obtains more support in the North, South, Northeast, and Midwest; while Lula gathers more votes in the Northeast. How to vote in Brazil 2026 In the presidential elections, the electronic ballot is used, which consists of two terminals: the terminal of the electoral authority, where the voter is identified and authorized to vote (in some models, those that verify the voter's identity through biometric data), and the voter's terminal, where the vote is recorded numerically. Who is Flávio Bolsonaro Flávio Bolsonaro was born on April 30, 1981, in Resende, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. He is the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro (2019–2023) and began his political career very young, at the age of 21. In 2003, he was elected a state deputy in Rio de Janeiro in the Legislative Assembly (Alerj), a position he held for four consecutive terms. In 2018, he obtained a seat as a senator with 4.38 million votes (31.36%). After his father's conviction in 2025 to 27 years and 3 months in prison for an attempted coup d'état, violent abolition of the rule of law, and leadership of an armed criminal organization in 2022, Flávio began an electoral career to reach the Planalto Palace as president and end Lula da Silva's desire for re-election. Who is Lula da Silva Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva was born on October 27, 1945. He is the seventh son of an illiterate couple from the northeast. He was abandoned by his father before the family emigrated to São Paulo. At 15 years old, he began working as a street vendor and shoe shiner to help provide money for his home. In 1968, Lula da Silva began his sindicalist stage in the Metalworkers' Union of São Bernardo do Campo. At first, he maintained a "depoliticized" profile and even resisted the dictatorship of João Goulart, where he played a relevant role when there were interlocutors that allowed strengthening the democratic process. BRASILIA.– Cross-accusations of corruption and the shadow of Argentine president Javier Milei marked the first face-to-face between Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Flavio Bolsonaro this Sunday on the Band channel. One week before the runoff and with the polls in a technical tie, the senator of the Liberal Party (PL) cornered the president with accusations of a corrupt friend who is a lobbyist for his son, while Lula counterattacked with his rival's links to a jailed banker and challenged him to say if he would copy the Argentine president's model. What do the polls say before the runoff between Lula and Bolsonaro The most recent survey by Datafolha, commissioned by the O Globo newspaper, places the liberal candidate Flávio Bolsonaro in first place and the current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in second place, although the difference between them is small and frames the electoral contest in a technical tie. Datafolha, in the poll published on Thursday, October 15, indicates that Bolsonaro obtains 47% of support, while Lula reaches 45%. Since the difference is only two percentage points, which usually coincides with the estimated margin of error, both candidates are in a situation of tie, ahead of the runoff to be held on October 25. This was the first presidential debate between Lula and Bolsonaro before the runoff SAO PAULO.- The presidential candidates of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flavio Bolsonaro, faced off this Sunday in an intense debate one week before the runoff that will determine the next president. The first face-to-face took place after a day of mobilization from the right and the left, including acts at sea. Bolsonaro, son of the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, won the first round on October 4 with 47% of the votes, against 45% of the leftist Lula. The debate, in the TV studies on Band in Sao Paulo, became a key moment of the campaign, after Lula's refusal to meet with his rival before the first round. From Bolsonaro's side, thousands of right-wing militants gathered before the face-to-face for an act led by the opposition candidate on Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo. "Only seven days left for Brazil to get rid of the PT (Workers' Party, of Lula)," he expressed to the public. The results of the first round Flavio Bolsonaro led the results of the presidential elections in Brazil this Sunday, October 4, by the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. With 99.58 scrutinized, the candidate of the Liberal Party (PL) obtained 47.12% of the votes, while the representative of the Workers' Party (PT) gathered 45.06%. The polling stations closed at 5 p.m., the official time in Brasília, and the count began through the electronic ballot system. More than 158 million Brazilians were enabled to vote in a day preceded by tight polls between the two main candidates.