What to know about Brazil's election pitting Lula against Flávio Bolsonaro

ByVanessa Buschschlüter

Latin America online editor

Brazilians are voting connected Sunday successful a wide predetermination successful which the 2 front-runners for the presidency carnivore precise acquainted names.

The incumbent, seasoned left-wing person Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva, volition beryllium challenged by 11 candidates, the astir salient of whom is right-winger Flávio Bolsonaro.

In the past predetermination 4 years ago, Lula narrowly defeated Flávio Bolsonaro's begetter Jair, but the tumultuous aftermath of the election, which saw Jair Bolsonaro convicted of plotting a coup aft thousands of his supporters stormed the Brazilian Congress, has had a lasting interaction connected the nation's governmental beingness and this election.

Here's what you request to know.

Jair Bolsonaro, the right-wing erstwhile service skipper who governed Brazil from 2019 to 2023, volition not beryllium moving for president successful this election.

Not lone is the 71-year-old barred from lasting for office, he is besides serving a 27-year condemnation for plotting a coup aft helium mislaid the 2022 predetermination to Lula.

Due to recurrent wellness problems, helium is presently nether location apprehension alternatively than successful a cell, but helium has had restrictions imposed connected him prohibiting him from posting connected societal media oregon making nationalist statements.

Despite these restrictions, his shadiness - and sometimes his moving and talking representation - looms ample implicit this election.

At the lawsuit wherever Flávio Bolsonaro officially launched his statesmanlike campaign, an AI-generated avatar of Jair Bolsonaro endorsed his son's candidacy.

When pressed by the Supreme Court astir the deepfake, Jair Bolsonaro's lawyers whitethorn person denied helium had fixed his support for its use, but determination is nevertheless small uncertainty that Flávio Bolsonaro has the backing of his father.

While determination are 12 candidates moving for the presidency, determination are lone 2 who person reached treble figures successful the sentiment polls, and they are Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro.

BBC Brasil's canvass tracker shows them some hovering astir the 40% mark, with Lula somewhat up of Bolsonaro.

The different 11 candidates are polling astatine 4% oregon less.

If nary of the candidates gains 50% of valid votes successful the archetypal circular connected 4 October, the apical 2 contenders volition proceed to a run-off predetermination connected 25 October.

The sentiment polls suggest a run-off is highly apt - but with a comparatively precocious fig of voters inactive undecided conscionable days earlier the election, an outright triumph cannot beryllium wholly ruled out.

BBC Brasil's canvass aggregator suggests that astatine the extremity of September, 9% of voters were either inactive undecided, oregon readying to spoil their ballot, formed a blank ballot oregon not spell to the polls astatine all.

Brazilians who are 16 years of property oregon older are entitled to ballot and it is compulsory for those aged betwixt 18 and 70 who are literate, with a good imposed connected those who bash not formed a ballot.

Almost 160 cardinal Brazilians are eligible to ballot successful this predetermination and, with polls typically surveying conscionable thousands of people, the extremity effect tin disagree considerably from the indications fixed by surveys.

Lula, the 80-year-old campaigner for the left-wing Workers' Party, has been president 3 times already.

He served 2 consecutive presumption - from January 2003 to December 2010 - and was wide praised for lifting millions retired of poorness during this clip with the assistance of a cash-transfer programme called Bolsa Família.

The erstwhile metalworker near bureau with grounds support ratings of implicit 80%, but his enactment was aboriginal rocked by immense corruption scandals.

Lula himself spent much than 18 months successful situation betwixt 2018 and 2019 aft being convicted of corruption and wealth laundering, charges helium has ever denied.

Those convictions were annulled successful 2021, leaving Lula escaped to tally for the presidency successful the 2022 election, successful which helium bushed Jair Bolsonaro by 1.8 percent points.

When helium started his 3rd word successful office, helium vowed it would beryllium his last, and yet his enactment endorsed him arsenic their campaigner again this year, adjacent though helium volition crook 81 aboriginal this month.

There is nary uncertainty helium remains a towering fig successful the left. But portion his supporters described him up of the 2022 predetermination arsenic the "saviour of the Amazon", praising his committedness to protecting the rainforest, immoderate environmentalists person been captious of immoderate of his caller actions.

His enactment for exploratory lipid drilling successful offshore waters adjacent the rima of the Amazon successful peculiar has drawn criticism.

Lula insists that he remains committed to yet phasing retired fossil fuels and argues that lipid revenues are cardinal to financing Brazil's modulation to cleanable energy.

His authorities has besides pointed to the simplification successful deforestation successful the Amazon - outer information suggests the country deforested successful the archetypal fractional of 2026 was reduced to its lowest successful the past decennary - arsenic impervious that its policies were working.

During Lula's latest word successful office, relations with his US counterpart Donald Trump person been rocky.

Referring to what Trump has dubbed the "Donroe doctrine" - his administration's nationalist information strategy which asserts that US dominance successful the Western hemisphere should not beryllium interfered with - Lula has insisted that "Brazil does not acceptable into anyone's backyard".

In different thinly veiled notation to some his rival Flávio Bolsonaro and those successful the Trump medication who would similar to spot the right-wing campaigner win, the Brazilian person has besides warned that helium would not tolerate "foreign and section enemies of democracy" interfering with the polls.

Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, is Jair Bolsonaro's eldest lad and has been serving arsenic a legislator since 2019.

The younger Bolsonaro is moving for the right-wing Liberal Party (PL) and, portion helium is wide seen arsenic little confrontational than his father, helium is appealing to the followers of the older Bolsonaro by promising to broadly proceed successful his footsteps.

During his clip successful the Senate, the trained lawyer has advocated a tough-on-crime stance, calling for longer sentences and laxer weapon laws, arguing that "decent citizens" should beryllium capable to support themselves from criminals.

He has successfully lobbied for the US to state Brazil-based transgression gangs Comando Vermelho (CV) and Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) arsenic Foreign Terrorist Organizations, a determination that was opposed by Lula.

The younger Bolsonaro has besides courted evangelicals and the cultivation manufacture arsenic portion of his campaign.

He has said that helium volition chopped what helium says are unnecessary regulations and "get the authorities disconnected farmers' backs".

Quizzed successful an interrogation with Globo successful August connected whether helium inactive believed - arsenic helium had said successful 2019 - that clime alteration did not exist, helium acknowledged that determination had been "extreme clime events", but insisted that these events were "cyclical".

Flávio Bolsonaro has actively courted Trump and members of his medication by portraying himself arsenic a loyal state during a gathering astatine the White House successful May.

More recently, helium promised to articulation the US-led anti-crime confederation that the Trump medication has dubbed "Shield of the Americas", should helium beryllium elected.

Up until a fewer months ago, Brazilians told pollsters that transgression and information were their main concerns.

But successful the weeks starring up to the election, a ungraded involving a jailed banker accused of orchestrating 1 of Brazil's largest fiscal fraud cases has pushed corruption to the apical of the list.

The banker, Daniel Vorcaro, is good connected and has ties to galore almighty radical successful Brazil - some connected the governmental close and left.

Flávio Bolsonaro acknowledged asking Vorcaro to bankroll a biopic astir his begetter aft dependable recordings emerged successful which helium could beryllium heard asking for 134 cardinal reais ($25.9m; £19.5m).

Police person since past opened an probe into Flávio Bolsonaro for suspected corruption and wealth laundering implicit the financing of the film.

But pollsters accidental Lula's run was besides wounded by the Vorcaro scandal, aft alleged links emerged betwixt the disgraced banker and an state of Lula, the Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

Moraes is the antheral who presided implicit Jair Bolsonaro's proceedings and has made a fig of consequent rulings astir the conditions of his detention.

A constabulary study suggested that Vorcaro had made galore calls and sent a fig of messages to a telephone fig which officers accidental is linked to Moraes.

The investigators accidental Vorcaro asked the idiosyncratic with whom helium was communicating for assistance avoiding arrest.

Moraes has denied immoderate wrongdoing but these latest revelations mean that, successful the important weeks earlier the election, attraction shifted distant from the allegations against Flávio Bolsonaro to those against the Supreme Court justice.

Lula has tried to region himself from Moraes, saying that "no 1 is supra the law", but his rival has already pounced connected the allegations against the justice to marque governmental hay.

"Voting for Lula means voting for Moraes," Flávio Bolsonaro told his supporters astatine a rally, utilizing the right's aggravated dislike of the justice to enactment up his ain support.