Brazil

Lula won the second round on 25 October 2026 with 51.79% of the valid votes to 48.21% for Flávio Bolsonaro, and begins a fourth term in January 2027. Here is where the two candidates in that vote stand on liberty, from their own words and actions.

Lula won the runoff. Was it the right result, and what comes next?Say what you think. Other readers can answer you.Discuss

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
President since 2023, re-elected on 25 October 2026 · Workers' Party
F
Liberty Score F
34 out of 100 across 8 measures, from what Lula has said and done.
Won the second round on 25 October 2026 with 51.79% of the valid votes, after coming second in the first round with 45.16%.
Every line on Lula, with its source
Flávio Bolsonaro
Senator for Rio de Janeiro; lost the presidential second round · Liberal Party
B-
Liberty Score B-
80 out of 100 across 7 measures, from what Bolsonaro has said and done.
Lost the second round on 25 October 2026 with 48.21% of the valid votes, after coming first in the first round with 47.03%.
Every line on Bolsonaro, with its source

Higher on Liberty Score: Flávio Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro: B-, 80 out of 100. Lula: F, 34 out of 100. Both from words and actions.

Voting in Brazil: who can vote, how to register and how to vote from abroad.

Every letter on this page is an outline. It is a grade from what a politician has said and done, with a source for every line, on the same scale as the rest of the site.

Read the lines before you compare two letters. Someone who has governed has a long record, and more of it cuts both ways. Someone who has not is graded on what they say they will do, and a promise is easier than a decision.

Ten other candidates were eliminated in the first round on 4 October 2026 and are not graded here: Augusto Cury (Avante, 2.89%), Renan Santos (Missão, 2.24%), Ronaldo Caiado (PSD, 2.18%), Romeu Zema (Novo, 0.27%) and six more who each got 0.1% or less.

Side by side

One line for each principle. With liberty every time is an A, against every time is an F, and a record that goes both ways gets the letter of its balance, with acts counting more than words. A question mark means the record does not settle it. Tap a name to read the sources.

Confronts tyranny and terrorStands up to the regimes and armed movements that rule by fear and export it: the regime in Tehran and the militias it arms, Putin's war, the Chinese Communist Party, terror groups and the networks that fund them.

FLulaagainst ABolsonarowith

Stands with free nations and free peoplesBacks democracies under attack and people rising against their rulers: Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, the people of Iran, and the alliances that keep free countries safe. Rejects isolationism, left and right.

FLulamostly against B-Bolsonaromostly with

Free speech and a free mindAgainst censorship by government or at its request. Every opinion, about any party, any idea or any religion, may be said and argued with.

FLulaagainst FBolsonaroboth ways

Free markets and free tradePeople keep what they earn and trade with whom they choose: lower taxes, less regulation, open trade, no price controls and no planned economy.

DLulamostly with ABolsonarowith

One law, equal for every individualRights belong to each person, never to a race, a sex or a group. Women and gay people equal under the same law; no one favoured or held back by race or sex; no ideology forced on children or soldiers.

FLulaboth ways ABolsonarowith

Freedom of conscienceThe state takes no side on religion. Every church, synagogue, mosque and temple is free, so is having no faith, and no religion's law is imposed on anyone.

FLulamostly against FBolsonaroagainst

Strong enough to stay freeFunds, equips and staffs the armed forces a free country needs to deter its enemies.

ALulawith ABolsonarowith

Citizenship and the rule of lawA free country decides who joins it, enforces its own laws, vets newcomers, and keeps out those who come to destroy its freedoms.

ALulawith

What Brazil voted on, and votes on next

Oct 252026
President, second round Held
Result: Lula won the second round on 25 October 2026 with 51.79% of the valid votes to 48.21% for Flávio Bolsonaro, and begins a fourth term in January 2027.
Who is president of Brazil for the four years that begin in January 2027.
Voters across the country choose between the two candidates who got the most votes in the first round on 4 October 2026, because nobody won more than half of the valid votes that day. The one with more valid votes on 25 October wins and takes office in January 2027.
Source: Agência Brasil, Quando será o segundo turno das eleições? Veja a data Source: Agência Brasil, Quando será o segundo turno das eleições? Veja a data Result: InfoMoney, Eleições 2026: Lula é eleito presidente do Brasil; veja o resultado nos estados
Oct 252026
Governors, second round in five states and the Federal District Held
Result: Mailza Assis (PP) won in Acre, Omar Aziz (PSD) in Amazonas, Lorenzo Pazolini (Republicanos) in Espírito Santo, Cadu de Lula (PT) in Rio Grande do Norte, Vicentinho Júnior (PSDB) in Tocantins and Celina Leão (PP) in the Federal District.
Rio de Janeiro did not vote again: on 8 October 2026 the election court voided the third-placed candidate's votes, which gave Douglas Ruas (PL) more than half of the valid votes in the first round.
The governors of Acre, Amazonas, Espírito Santo, Rio Grande do Norte and Tocantins, and of the Federal District.
Where no candidate for governor won more than half of the valid votes on 4 October 2026, voters in that state choose between the top two on the same day as the presidential second round. The other 20 states elected their governors in the first round.
Source: Agência Brasil, Seis estados e o DF terão segundo turno para governador Source: Agência Brasil, Seis estados e o DF terão segundo turno para governador Result: InfoMoney, Eleições 2026: Lula é eleito presidente do Brasil; veja o resultado nos estados
Oct 12028
Mayors and city councils
The mayor and the city council of every one of Brazil's municipalities, for four years from January 2029.
The constitution sets the vote for the first Sunday of October, every four years, in every municipality on the same day. In cities with more than 200,000 voters a mayor needs more than half of the valid votes, or the top two meet again on the last Sunday of October.
Source: Planalto, Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil de 1988 Source: Planalto, Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil de 1988
Oct 62030
General election (president, Congress, governors)
The president for the four years from January 2031, the Chamber of Deputies, one third of the Senate, every governor and every state assembly.
The constitution sets the first round on the first Sunday of October and a second round on the last Sunday if no candidate for president or governor wins more than half of the valid votes. Lula cannot stand: a president may be re-elected only once in a row.
Source: Planalto, Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil de 1988 Source: Planalto, Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil de 1988

Who is on this page: The two candidates in the presidential second round on 25 October 2026: Lula won with 51.79% of the valid votes and Flávio Bolsonaro had 48.21%. In the first round on 4 October, by the election court's final count, Flávio Bolsonaro had 47.03% and Lula 45.16%. InfoMoney, Eleições 2026: Lula é eleito presidente do Brasil; veja o resultado nos estados. CartaCapital, TSE encerra apuração do 1º turno. Read on October 26, 2026. See something that is wrong or missing? Say so in the discussion.

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