World

Brazil returns to polls for 2026 runoff election

Brazilian voters choose between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro for the presidency, while five states and the Federal District also elect governors.

25 October 2026Tagblick Newsdesk

AI-generatedWritten by an AI system, editorially responsible — how we work

Archive photo: Brazil returns to polls for 2026 runoff election — Archive photoPhoto: NunysBR · Wikimedia Commons · CC0

On Sunday (25th), Brazilians return to the polls for the second round of the 2026 elections. The presidential race pits Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the PT against Flávio Bolsonaro of the PL. Voting takes place across the country, with polling stations open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Brasília time.

Beyond the presidential election, voters in five states and the Federal District also vote for governor in the runoff. Espírito Santo, Tocantins, Paraíba, Santa Catarina and Amazonas are participating in these state-level races. In the Ribeirão Preto and Franca regions of São Paulo, more than 1.8 million voters across 66 municipalities are eligible to cast ballots. In Santa Catarina, there are more than 5.7 million registered voters.

Vote counting begins at 5 p.m. on Sunday, immediately after polls close. Results will be released by the Superior Electoral Court as bulletins are received and processed. The TSE updates information directly from its system, though no fixed time has been set for announcing the final official result, depending on the speed of the count.

The second round of the 2026 elections marks a return to the polls following the first round held on October 4th. According to sources, some municipalities recorded record abstention rates in the first round. This Sunday mobilises voters across multiple regions of the country, from north to south, to determine the political composition of the next four-year presidential term.

Coverage of the electoral process in real time is being followed by various news organisations. News agencies report the main developments of the vote during the day, including voter participation and the progress of counting in different states.

The presidential race puts candidates with different histories in the country against each other. Lula was elected president for the third time in 2022, winning nationally, though he lost in states such as Espírito Santo, the Federal District and Acre. Flávio Bolsonaro is running for the presidency for the first time in this 2026 election.

This item was written by an AI system on the basis of the headlines and short teasers of the independently operating newsrooms named below. We disclose this under Art. 50(4), second subparagraph, of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act). Before publication we check origin and verifiability — anything that appears in only one place is not published — as well as language, substance and legally sensitive content. No separate substantive review of each individual item by a natural person takes place; we therefore do not rely on the exemption in Art. 50(4), second subparagraph, of the AI Act. Editorial responsibility for this publication rests with the person named in the imprint (§ 18 Abs. 2 MStV). Please report errors to [email protected] — we will correct or remove the item. Full reports are available from the sources listed.