Brazil: opening of polling stations for a very tense presidential election
A voting booth at a polling station in São Pedro;
a community on the Amazonas River, October 1, 2022. © Bruno Kelly / Reuters
Text by: RFI Follow
4 mins
Polling stations have opened.
Some 156 million Brazilians are called this Sunday, October 2 to go to the polls in the largest country in Latin America to choose their head of state for the next four years.
Outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro is given the loser against his rival, former metallurgist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and ex-president of the country from 2003 to 2010. The figure on the left, sentenced to prison and then released two years later, already believes to his victory in one of the most tense elections in the country.
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Polling stations
welcome voters from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Brasilia time
(10 a.m. to 8 p.m. UT), with electronic ballot boxes.
Brazilians must then type in the number of their candidates, and then shortly after the polls close, the first results should come in.
The
two main candidates held meetings in São Paulo
, the economic capital, the day before the vote, without there being excesses.
On Saturday October 1, Lula held a press conference where he already presented himself a bit like the future president: he promised to
get the country out of the economic and social crisis
.
But he, at the same time, tempered expectations by saying that it would surely take time.
Lula knows he has every chance of winning the election, but he absolutely wants to win it in the first round.
If he passes with more than 50% of the vote, it will be difficult for Jair Bolsonaro to contest the ballot, reports our special correspondent in São Paulo,
Achim Lippold.
According to the latest polls published on Saturday evening, Lula could indeed win the majority of votes today, but it could be down to a few votes: the polling institutes give 50% or 51% of the vote for Lula, with a comfortable lead 14 points over Jair Bolsonaro, reports our correspondent in São Paulo,
Martin Bernard
.
Apart from the main two, there are 10 other candidates vying for the first round.
Lula thus hopes to benefit from vote transfers, in the event of a second round.
An employee places electronic ballot boxes at a polling station in Rio de Janeiro, October 1, 2022. © Matias Delacroix / AP
►
To read also: Presidential in Brazil: Lula's last fight?
A campaign marked by murders of left-wing sympathizers
But the election day
takes place in a very tense atmosphere
.
Because the outgoing far-right president has already brandished the threat several times not to recognize the results if they were not favorable to him.
If Jair Bolsonaro has slightly tempered his remarks since then, the question hangs in everyone's mind.
A Workers' Party (PT) voter said he will not wear a red T-shirt - the color of Lula's party - when he goes to vote, for fear of being attacked by a Bolsonarist.
Because Lula's sympathizers have not forgotten the numerous attacks against left-wing activists: in the months preceding the vote,
several of them
were
attacked or killed by Bolsonarists
.
Fear of violence in polling stations
This context of tensions worries Marina Martins, who will be an assessor in a polling station in Rio de Janeiro.
In her apartment, she wears a red t-shirt with the image of Lula matching her nails, but this Sunday she plans to wear white at the polling station: "
It's completely crazy to be afraid to dress like you want, because you're afraid that someone will kill you because of your candidate.
It's too hard to live a reality like that
, ”she was indignant to our correspondent in Rio de Janeiro,
Sarah Cozzolino
.
This year, the Superior Electoral Tribunal has taken several measures for the elections: mobile phones are prohibited in the polling booth, as well as the carrying of weapons within 100 meters of the polling stations.
“
I'm going to know all the police people when I arrive, to call people if necessary, because you can't defend yourself alone
,” she says in French.
If former President Lula wins, Marina says she is more afraid of the aggressiveness of Jair Bolsonaro's supporters than of a real coup attempt by the president: "
We have a lot of stories of people who are attacked by the far right, so I believe they are capable of doing things like that.
Yes, you have to protect yourself, but you also have to try not to be dominated by fear.
»
An exceptional security device was put in place in each of the states this Sunday, with a large number of police and military in the streets.
An assessor worries about tensions in polling stations in Rio
Sarah Cozzolino
► To read also:
Brazil: a difficult economic situation for the next president
Presidential in Brazil in 4 points
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Brazil
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
Jair Bolsonaro