Guns, God and fake news dominate Brazil’s presidential race
Fernando Haddad, the far-left, pro-labor candidate, and Workers’ Party candidate Jair Bolsonaro, have dominated Brazil’s presidential election campaign for the past year and a half, although other candidates and political forces have tried to fight for space. In the last week, Brazil’s far right has surged to third place as a result of a public backlash against a series of scandals regarding electoral fraud and money laundering.
The final vote count in Sunday’s first round was held Monday and Tuesday. The first ballot with 776 seats in the 150-seat chamber gave Haddad 53 votes, while Bolsonaro won with 60 votes. The second ballot included 792 seats giving Bolsonaro 76 votes, followed by Jair Bolsonaro, a former military leader who is running under the Workers’ Party banner, with 51 votes.
However, there are several scenarios which could change the picture. If there are more changes between the two ballots, the second ballot would give Bolsonaro more than 50% of the vote and Bolsonaro could try to pass an agenda of radical changes in the constitution to win the election.
It is important to note that Bolsonaro is not in favor of changing the constitution, although he does want new presidential powers and a state of exception within the Constitution (Article 66) in order to fight corruption and to promote economic growth.
In July, the Supreme Court ruled that the Electoral Court did not have the right to remove Bolsonaro’s candidacy from the ballot because his supporters could not demonstrate that he had lost the support of more than 50 percent of the electorate.
According to the Brazilian newspaper O Globo, the first ballot result will be decisive, but if the second ballot shows Bolsonaro is ahead by more than 50%, Bolsonaro will try to pass the agenda of radical changes to the constitution he wants, and if Haddad is ahead – as is expected – then supporters of