Close race expected as left-wing Lula seeks fourth non-consecutive term against right-wing Flavio Bolsonaro, son of convicted former president.<\/p>\n
Polls have opened in Brazil\u2019s presidential election<\/a>, once again pitting left-wing incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva<\/a> against a right-wing candidate from the Bolsonaro family<\/a> \u2013 Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro.<\/p>\n About 160 million registered voters are eligible to cast ballots in Sunday\u2019s elections, which will elect lawmakers, governors and senators.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n If no presidential candidate wins more than 50 percent of valid votes, the top two contenders will proceed to a run-off on October 25.<\/p>\n Most opinion polls ahead of the vote showed a close contest, with Lula holding a marginal advantage over Bolsonaro that tightens further in a potential second round.<\/p>\n Flavio Bolsonaro voted in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, telling reports he wants to \u201cfree the Brazilian people\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cBrazil needs change \u2026 it cannot bear any more suffering, such as high taxes, so many women killed,\u201d he said, adding that he was confident of victory in the first round.<\/p>\n Lula, of the Workers\u2019 Party, is seeking a fourth nonconsecutive term. The 80-year-old, who previously served as president from 2003 to 2010, wants to continue his series of social programmes aimed at addressing inequality.<\/p>\n Bolsonaro, of the Liberal Party, has promised a hard stance on crime and insecurity. The 45-year-old has also pledged close collaboration with the United States under President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n His father is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence over his role in a coup plot following his election loss to Lula by 1.8 percentage points in 2022. The far-right leader\u2019s conviction and that of several military officers raised questions about the strength of Brazilian democracy, reviving past traumas of the 21-year-long period during which Brazil was ruled by a US-backed military dictatorship.<\/p>\n Reporting from Sao Paulo, Al Jazeera\u2019s Lucia Newman, said \u201cthe Brazilian president is on a collision course with Donald Trump, who is a vocal and ardent supporter of Lula\u2019s longtime foe, Jair Bolsonaro\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThat puts Brazil in the middle of a fierce competition between Washington and China for political, diplomatic, and economic dominance, especially since Brazil is a powerhouse on all these fronts,\u201d Newman added.<\/p>\n The presidential election has been dominated by issues such as crime, insecurity and the high cost of living. Corruption and concerns about US intervention<\/a>\u00a0in the country\u2019s domestic affairs have also loomed over the campaign.<\/p>\n A recent survey by Quaest says violence was cited as the biggest concern by 31 percent of respondents, followed by corruption (20 percent), economy (19 percent) and healthcare (12 percent).<\/p>\n \u201cThe stakes of this election are incredibly stark because the candidates stand for such opposing visions about what Brazil\u2019s recent history means\u201d, Andre Pagliarini, an assistant professor of history and international studies at Louisiana State University and the author of a book on Lula, told Al Jazeera<\/a>.<\/p>\n He added that while Lula embodies the \u201cconsolidation of Brazilian democracy since the end of the dictatorship\u201d, the Bolsonaro family argues that \u201cthe institutions that Brazilian democracy has erected since the end of dictatorship are either rotten and unresponsive\u201d.<\/p>\n