The polling stations closed at 21, Norwegian time, and the tally so far shows that President Jair Bolsonaro has received 51.43 percent of the vote, against 48.43 percent for the left-wing candidate Lula da Silva. The first votes counted are from areas where Bolsonaro has the most support, and it is expected that Lula will get more votes over time. Voting is compulsory in Brazil, and turnout appears to be around 80 per cent. OPPOSING CANDIDATE: Lula da Silva cast his vote in Brazil’s largest city, São Paulo. Photo: NELSON ALMEIDA / AFP The police stopped voters The election has been characterized by the police in several areas of the country stopping buses with voters on their way to the polling stations. According to the major newspaper Folha de São Paulo, such buses were stopped in more than 500 places. This prompted the leader of Lula’s party, Gleisi Hoffmann, to demand the arrest of the head of the traffic police. The police chief, Silvinei Vasquees, today urged his followers on Instagram to vote for Jair Bolsonaro in today’s election, but the post was later deleted. After the President of Brazil’s Electoral Tribunal (TSE), Alexandre de Moraes, ordered Vasques to remove the barriers, the buses were allowed to continue. All the voters arrived at the polling stations and were able to vote, according to TSE’s president. COMPULSORY VOTING: Voting is compulsory for everyone between 18 and 70, and the queues were long in front of the polling stations. Photo: Eraldo Peres / AP Dirty election campaign In the first round of elections on October 2, Lula received about as many votes as the pollsters had predicted: 48 percent. While Bolsonaro’s result was far better than expected: 43.5 percent. But since no one was able to achieve the required 50 percent of the country’s votes, there had to be a rematch on 30 October. The weeks leading up to Sunday’s election have largely been about talking down the opponent. Little has been said about how to concretely shape the policy and bring Brazil out of the shadow of the pandemic. The Bolsonaro campaign has been characterized by slogans such as: “God, fatherland, family and freedom”, and threats that Brazil will drown in communism if Lula wins. While Lula has promised “to take Brazil back” and “to give the poor a better life.” Brazil has never experienced an election campaign with so much hostility and so much fake news. After every televised debate, the newspapers have had long lists of statements containing factual errors. And the words “lie” and “lies” have been used extensively – at election meetings, in TV debates and on social media. Fears riots Jair Bolsonaro has said several times that he does not trust the country’s electoral system. And during a demonstration on National Day last year, he said that “only God can remove me from power”. SWORN SUPPORTERS: A Bolsonaro supporter casts his vote in Sunday’s election. Photo: Andre Penner / AP If things do not go Bolsonaro’s way and he thus alleges election fraud, some fear violent riots from his most radical supporters. About the rainforest’s fate Many believe the rainforest will win if Bolsonaro loses. – It gives us hope and it gives hope to our allies in Brazil if Lula wins, Anders Haug Larsen of the Rain Forest Fund previously told news. He is supported by an analysis for Carbon brif. It shows that a Lula victory could cut deforestation by 89 percent by 2030. DEFORESTATION: A deforested area in the rainforest. The picture is from September. Photo: DOUGLAS MAGNO / AFP Under Bolsonaro’s leadership, deforestation has increased by up to 75 percent, according to the Rainforest Foundation. In the Carbon brief’s analysis, the researchers take as their point of departure that Lula keeps his election promises to crack down on deforestation. When Lula was president from 2003 to 2011, his government managed to reduce deforestation by 70 percent.
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Bolsonaro leads in Brazil – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
