Brazilians choose between Lula and Bolsonaro tomorrow
The presidential election has twelve candidates, but the campaign is focused mainly on the sitting president and Flávio Bolsonaro.
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Brazilians will go to the polls on Sunday 4 October for the first round of the general election. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is facing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, while voters will also elect a new Congress and governors.
Brazil’s electoral authority TSE has registered twelve presidential candidacies. According to the TSE, more than 158 million people are eligible to vote. Alongside the president, Brazilians will elect governors, senators and members of the federal and regional parliaments on Sunday.
The campaign is focused on Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro. Lula, leader of the Workers’ Party, is seeking to become president again. Flávio Bolsonaro is a senator and the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who governed from 2019 to 2022. It is Flávio’s first presidential election.
A candidate must win more than half of the valid votes to win outright. If that does not happen, a second round will take place on 25 October. The TSE has set that date for presidential and gubernatorial elections in which no candidate achieves the required majority.
The stakes extend beyond the person of the president. According to international reporting, the campaign is concerned, among other things, with tackling organised crime, relations with the Trump administration and the future of the Amazon rainforest. Brazil is Latin America’s largest economy and manages a large part of the rainforest, which is important for the global climate.
Lula stands for a left-wing course emphasising social programmes, state policy and protection of the Amazon rainforest. Bolsonaro represents the right-wing opposition, which emphasises security, a tougher approach to crime and a different relationship with the federal government and international partners. The precise policy choices will depend on the result and on the composition of Congress.
The result could therefore have implications for trade relations, climate policy and regional power dynamics. Relations with the United States also play a role. According to AP, the US government is following the election closely, while Brazilian politicians are opposing foreign interference.
Dutch readers should not focus only on the presidential race on Sunday. The results for Congress will determine how much room the new president has to implement budgets, security policy and environmental measures. If no candidate immediately wins a majority, a new campaign for the second round will begin after Sunday.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- The first round of the election will take place on 4 October 2026.
- There are twelve registered presidential candidacies and more than 158 million eligible voters.
- Lula da Silva is the sitting president; Flávio Bolsonaro is a senator and presidential candidate.
- Alongside the president, members of Congress and governors will be elected.
- A second round is scheduled for 25 October if necessary.
Left
Arguments Emphasises social protection, redistribution, public services and preserving environmental protection in the Amazon rainforest. From this perspective, a right-wing course is seen as potentially weakening social programmes and oversight of deforestation.
Values Equality, social rights, public responsibility and climate protection.
Consequences Continuing Lula’s course could stabilise social programmes and environmental policy, but it also raises the question of how the government should combine growth, fiscal discipline and security.
Centre
Arguments Emphasises governability: the president needs a workable relationship with Congress and must address security, economic growth and nature protection simultaneously. Institutional oversight and cooperation with regional governments are central.
Values Stability, practicality, the rule of law and compromise.
Consequences A moderate course could support investment and international cooperation, but might disappoint voters expecting rapid changes in security, poverty or climate policy.
Right
Arguments Places the emphasis on order, combating organised crime, reducing regulation and national control. From this perspective, Brazil should seize economic opportunities without environmental policy or international pressure dominating domestic development.
Values Security, national autonomy, entrepreneurship and economic growth.
Consequences A tougher security policy could attract support in areas with high crime levels, but could increase tensions with human rights organisations, Indigenous communities and international climate partners.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
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The practical election information has been directly confirmed by Brazil’s electoral authority. The political analysis is based on several publicly available international sources and avoids predictions about the result.
- confirmed The first round of Brazil’s election is on 4 October 2026. — Set by the TSE. source
- confirmed Twelve presidential candidacies have been registered. — Reported by the TSE on 11 September. source
- confirmed More than 158 million people are eligible to vote. — The TSE lists 158,765,543 eligible voters. source
- confirmed A second round is scheduled for 25 October if no candidate wins a majority. — Included in the official election calendar. source
- confirmed The campaign is focused mainly on Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro. — AP describes the two as the dominant rivals; the text does not say that other candidates have no chance. source
- confirmed The election concerns, among other things, security, relations with the United States and the Amazon rainforest. — These themes are identified as campaign issues in AP and Reuters reporting. source
Editor's note
The election date, the number of candidates and the number of eligible voters come from the TSE. The political stakes and the prominent two-way contest are based on AP and Reuters; election results are not yet known.Sources
- Eleições 2026: CDE en stemgerechtigde kiezers — Tribunal Superior Eleitoral
- Eleições têm 12 candidaturas na disputa pela Presidência — Tribunal Superior Eleitoral
- Brazilians will vote in a highly polarized presidential race — Associated Press
- Brazil next, US midterms coming, in impactful global election year — Reuters via Internazionale
More on this in Dutch media
- RTL Nieuws — „brazilië verkiezingen”
- NOS — „brazilië verkiezingen”
- Het Parool — „brazilië verkiezingen”