Brazilian Polling Stations Begin to Receive Voters

On Sunday, the Brazilian polling stations opened their doors at 8:00 local time for the second round of the presidential elections, in which current President Jair Bolsonaro and the Workers' Party candidate Lula da Silva face off.

Some 156.4 million Brazilians are called to the polls, which will remain open until 5:00 p.m., although as in the first round, held on October 2, all voters who are in line at the closing time.

Voting will take place in 5,570 Brazilian cities and in 181 locations abroad. Both candidates rushed until the last moment on Saturday to close a fierce campaign, which lasted two and a half months.

On Sunday, surrounded by a dozen bodyguards, Bolsonaro voted in Rio de Janeiro at 8:10. Neither supporters nor opponents were present when he voted at a polling place where the only crowding and noise was caused by journalists.

The tweet reads, "Brazilian presidential elections 2022 / Second round. Brazilians arrive to vote in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Over 10,000 people are expected for the voting, which began 45 minutes ago."

With notoriously forced smiles and no crowd to cheer him on, the far-right politician walked in and out of the polling place. Bolsonaro said a few words to the press and left escorted by a caravan of security cars.

Brazilians residing in New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, and Japan were the first ones to vote in the second round of elections. Due to the time difference, elections there have already concluded and polling stations have begun the process of counting and verifying votes.

In the first round, Lula was the most voted candidate with 48.4 percent of the valid votes, compared to 43.2 percent obtained by the former Captain Bolsonaro. The voting intention polls carried out in the last week also predict Lula's victory this Sunday.