Brazil holds its presidential runoff on Sunday local time. Final polls put President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and challenger Flavio Bolsonaro within the margin of error, making the outcome hard to call.
According to the Rio Times, which covers Latin America, the runoff was needed because no candidate won a majority in the first round on October 4. Polls close at 5 p.m. Brasilia time on Sunday, which is the early hours of Monday in Korea.
광고 문의 · 300×250Among polls released on Friday, Vox Brasil put Lula at 50.6 percent and Flavio Bolsonaro at 49.4 percent of valid votes, inside its margin of error of 2.15 points. Real Time Big Data the same day had Flavio at 52 percent and Lula at 48. Datafolha recorded a 50-50 tie.
Polls point in different directions
The Rio Times average of 43 national polls from 20 pollsters since October 4 is Flavio 51.0 percent and Lula 49.0 percent. The outlet reported that Poder360 counted Flavio numerically ahead in 15 of the 17 most recent runoff surveys. Prediction markets Polymarket and Kalshi put his chance of winning at around 80 percent, but those odds reflect investor sentiment rather than vote share.
With results this mixed, neither side can be called the clear favorite. A gap inside the margin of error can easily flip depending on turnout, late decisions by undecided voters and the regional distribution of votes.
The WhatsApp channel dispute and other late variables
Legal skirmishes continued right up to the vote. According to the Rio Times, Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) said on Friday that it had not ordered the removal of any WhatsApp channel. The channel at the center of the dispute is the pro-Lula Exercito do Lula, run by federal deputy Andre Janones and reported to have about 10 million followers. The same day a TSE justice issued an interim injunction barring court president Kassio Nunes Marques from suspending or restricting it on his own; the full bench has yet to rule.
Another justice on Friday rejected a request made Thursday by Lula's campaign for the court to supervise a simultaneous release of both candidates' bank, tax and phone records, leaving the decision to each candidate. All of this is as reported by the Rio Times; this newspaper has not seen the original rulings.
Brazil is South America's largest economy and a major trading partner of China, and some observers say the result could affect trade with China and BRICS cooperation. A picture of the count is expected to emerge on Sunday night.