The tightly contested election between Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro has been marred by political violence and allegations of US interference<\/p>\n
Brazil has voted in a fiercely contested presidential runoff between incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and right-wing challenger Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of jailed former President Jair Bolsonaro and an ally of US President Donald Trump.
\nThe election could determine whether Latin America\u2019s largest economy maintains its prominent role in BRICS or moves closer to Washington. Bolsonaro has openly questioned Brazil\u2019s membership in the bloc, accusing Lula of using it to antagonize the United States.
\nThe vote count has been overshadowed by a last-minute Supreme Court decision to extend voting hours nationwide by two hours, following allegations of voter suppression and disruptions to public transport. The unprecedented move has caused confusion, as some polling stations had already closed and electronic voting machines had been sealed.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Brazil election meddling: The stakes could not be higher<\/p>\n
The campaign has also been marked by political violence and allegations of interference by US technology giant Meta, which has denied deliberately favoring Bolsonaro.
\nThe two candidates entered the runoff after Bolsonaro narrowly defeated Lula in the October 4 first round, securing 47.03% of the vote to the incumbent\u2019s 45.16%.
\nFollow our live updates for the latest results, reactions and developments:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The tightly contested election between Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro has been marred by political violence and allegations of US interference Brazil has voted in a fiercely contested presidential runoff between…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40507,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t