Brazil runoff: voting on track, with 900 machines replaced by noon

Brazil's presidential runoff between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) was running without major incidents as of early Sunday afternoon (Oct. 25). Visiting the elections results center, Superior Electoral Court (TSE) President Kassio Nunes Marques said voting was proceeding as expected. About 158.7 million people are eligible to vote. Besides the presidential race, governors are being elected in Acre, Amazonas, Espírito Santo, Rio Grande do Norte, Tocantins and the Federal District.

Voting machines replaced

According to a TSE bulletin, 900 electronic voting machines were replaced between 8 a.m. and noon, or 0.18% of the 499,248 machines in use. At 10 a.m., the count stood at 467. In absolute terms, replacements were concentrated in São Paulo (163), Paraná (103), Rio de Janeiro (95) and Minas Gerais (75). Proportionally, Paraná led with 0.35%. No polling station had to switch to paper ballots, and the electoral authorities hold 48,815 backup machines.

The TSE has not yet released turnout figures. The official number usually comes after polls close. In the first round, abstention was 21.08%.

Incidents around the country

The Ministry of Justice and Public Security counted 170 election-related incidents through 1 p.m., with at least 15 people arrested in the act and 16 taken in for questioning. Cases ranged from illegal campaigning to fights at polling stations. Among the episodes reported in the states:

• Fortaleza (Ceará): a voter was detained by military police after arguing with a polling station chief and knocking over a table, damaging a voting machine; the data was preserved and the Federal Police is investigating
• Gama (Federal District): a poll worker was taken to the Federal Police on suspicion of partisan campaigning inside the voting room
• Paraíba and Pará: voters were arrested for photographing their ballots with a phone, which is banned
• Espírito Santo: the state security department recorded two fights and one threat through 11 a.m., with no arrests

How the candidates voted

Flávio Bolsonaro voted at around 8:20 a.m. at the Barão Homem de Mello municipal school in Vila Isabel, in Rio's North Zone. He was accompanied by his wife, Fernanda, his mother, Rogéria, and Rio's governor-elect, Douglas Ruas (PL). He said he was calm, cited insecurity and the cost of living, and called for a change of course. He was then due to fly to Brasília to follow the count.

Lula voted at around 10 a.m. at the João Firmino Correia de Araújo state school in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo state. With him were first lady Janja, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) and former ministers Fernando Haddad, Simone Tebet and Marina Silva. The president said he had never seen a mobilization like that of this runoff and that he was voting grateful to the Brazilian people for their support.

What happens from 5 p.m.

Polls close at 5 p.m. Brasília time nationwide, and anyone still in line at that time can vote. Under TSE Resolution 23,751/2026, presidential results start being released at 5 p.m., simultaneously for all states and for votes cast abroad. Figures are updated as voting machine reports reach the tally and can be followed on resultados.tse.jus.br and in the Resultados app.

There is no set time for the count to end. Nunes Marques estimated that the official result should come out around 8:30 p.m. if the current pace holds. For reference, in the 2022 runoff the winner was considered mathematically elected at 7:56 p.m., with 98.91% of machines counted. That moment depends on the margin between the candidates: the tighter the race, the more machines must be tallied before the lead can no longer be overturned.