Flávio Bolsonaro are both focused on persuading the undecided voters ahead of the Oct. 25 presidential election -- Ana Beatriz Bon Raggio is not persuaded by either left-leaning Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva or far-right Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro ahead of the second round of the presidential election on Oct. 25. Bolsonaro’s father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, is currently serving a 27-year sentence for planning a coup after his 2022 defeat to Lula.
As the second round nears, both Lula and Bolsonaro are hyperfocused on winning over undecided voters such as Bon Raggio, as well as those who voted for one of the eliminated candidates in the first round. More than 33 million, or 21% of the electorate, did not go to the polls on Sunday. The abstention percentage is the highest since 1998 for a first round.
First-round non-voting has been slowly increasing since 2006, according to data from Brazil’s electoral court. Not voting in Brazil incurs a small fine as participation is mandatory for literate citizens aged 18 to 70. Bolsonaro has at least two advantages: He received 2 million more votes than Lula on Sunday and the candidates who placed third, fourth and fifth — Augusto Cury, Renan Santos and Ronaldo Caiado — are all on the right of the political spectrum.
Caiado, who garnered around 2.6 million votes, endorsed Bolsonaro on Tuesday. Cury and Santos have said they will not support either candidate. Nearly six million people cast a blank or spoiled vote — including Alexandre Moreira, a 21-year-old university student.
Ahead of the second round, he is also undecided, though he's leaning toward Lula because he believes the incumbent is open-minded. He pointed to the rising price of gasoline, which has increased from 5 reais ($1) a liter in January 2023 to 6.54 reais ($1.31) in September 2026, according to Brazil’s National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels. On Sunday, many lined up to cast their vote wearing either red hats and T-shirts — signaling support for Lula’s party — or the yellow and green of the Brazilian flag traditionally used by Bolsonaro's movement, reflecting the polarization gripping the country.
But others feel alienated, misrepresented and worn out by the opposing political forces, said Carolina Almeida de Paula, a political scientist from Rio de Janeiro State University. Brazil’s polling agency Datafolha predicted around 11% of people were undecided ahead of the first round. Around the same time in 2022, the Datafolha poll found just 2% were undecided.
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