Election tables close in Brazil and start counting votes

Nbrazil, the vote can continue at voting tables where there are still people in line to vote after closing time.

The electronic vote allows a quick count in the Brazilian electionsh after the vote is closed, each ballot generates a bulletin with the votes counted, whose data is transmitted to the Electoral Court to be added.

This process allows monitoring and speeding up the results on election night itself, although the completion of the count depends on the receipt of data from all voting sections, including those located in remote regions and abroad.

As usual, Lula da Silva, 80 years old, voted in the morning in São Bernardo do Campo, his political cradle, in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, in the first round of suffrage that can lead him to re-election and the fourth term (2002-2006, 2007-2011, 2022-2026).

Lula da Silva said today that voters choose between strengthening democracy and “barbarism”.

“The people will have to choose between the strengthening of the democratic regime or barbarism, between positivism and denialism, between development and delay,” Lula told journalists, after voting at the João Firmino Correia de Araújo State School.

Rather, the senator and candidate for president of Brazil by the Liberal Party, Flávio Bolsonaro, voted in Rio de Janeiro, and said he hoped that the Brazilians would give the “your vote of protest” and put an end to an “age of delay”.

Flavius appeared at the voting site in the first minutes of the opening of the polls and was accompanied by his wife, Fernanda Antunes Figueira Bolsonaro. He landed for the televisions and photographers, and did the 22 with his hands, his number in the polls.

“ I hope that Brazilians and Brazilians leave home today so that they can change Brazil for the better. Give your vote to protest against the government that is leaving a record of women murdered, record of people in debt, record of high taxes, record of violence for all sides ", said.

In addition to Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro, the President Ronaldo Caiado, Romeo Zema, Renan Santos, Augusto Cury, Samara Martins, Clariana Baron, Edmilson Costa, Hertz Dias, Rui Costa Pimenta and Wilson Grassi compete.

Over 158.7 million voters were able to vote until 5 p.m. in Brasilia (21.00 in Lisbon) in the 563.910 electronic voting machines spread across 5,571 cities in the country, as well as 186 cities abroad, such as Lisbon, Porto and Faro.

Abroad, 918,876 people were entitled to vote in 2026, more than 134,000 of these registered in Portugal, the second largest contingent abroad, behind the United States.

In addition to the President and Vice President, the Brazilians elected today 27 governors and their respective vice governors, 54 senators, corresponding to two thirds of the Senate, 513 federal deputies, 1,035 state deputies and 24 district deputies.

If none of the presidential candidates obtain more than 50% of the valid votes, the two most voted will face each other in a second round on October 25.