JAKARTA - The election of the Brazilian President to the second round of elections, election authorities said on Sunday, after President Jair Bolsonaro's shock force in the first round undermined the hopes of his rival Luiz Inacio Tala da Silva to win straight away.
With 99.7 percent of electronic votes calculated, Lula won with 48.4 percent of the vote versus 43.3 percent for Bolsonaro, national election authorities reported.
Since no one has majority support, the race will proceed to a second round of votes on October 30, reports Reuters October 3.
Several opinion surveys show that the left-leaning Lula, who was president from 2003 to 2010, outperformed the far-right Bolsonaro with 10-15 percentage points ahead of Sunday's vote.
The much stricter result shattered hopes for a quick resolution, for a much polarized election in the world's fourth-largest democracy.
Bolsonaro has questioned a poll showing he lost to Lala in the first half, saying they did not catch the enthusiasm he saw on the campaign track.
He also attacked the integrity of Brazil's electronic selection system without evidence, and implied he would not surrender if he lost.
Political observers say the broad margin of victory for Lula could weaken Bolsonaro's support to challenge election results. But Sunday's vote extended a tense and violent election for another four weeks, reviving his campaign.
"The right extreme is very powerful across Brazil," said Carlos Melo, a political scientist at Insper's business school.
"Lola's second round of wins is now unlikely. Bolsonaro will arrive with a lot of power to be re-elected."
However, Lula remains optimistic about the results of the first round, saying it would only delay his victory, hoping to face Bolsonaro face-to-face in a debate.
"We can compare Brazil that he built with what we built," he told reporters.
Bolsonaro is also calm and confident in a post-election statement, demeaning polling companies for failing to measure his support.
"I plan to create the right political alliance to win this election," he told reporters, pointing to significant progress his party made at Congress in Sunday's general election.
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