In Brazil, the election campaign officially began around a month and a half before the presidential election. Incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro and former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are the favourites.
Bolsonaro appeared to mobilize his supporters in the city of Juiz de Fora, in the state of Minas Gerais. There he was attacked by an attacker with a knife four years ago and almost killed.
Lula da Silva positioned himself in front of a Volkswagen plant in Sao Bernardo do Campo in the state of Sao Paulo. There he had started his political career as a union leader.
According to polls, left-leaning challenger and former President Lula da Silva is well ahead of incumbent Bolsonaro. Accordingly, 44 percent of those surveyed would vote for Lula, the right-wing populist President Bolsonaro would only get 32 percent.
Brazil will elect a new head of state on October 2nd. Bolsonaro has questioned Brazil’s electronic voting system in the past, making unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the 2018 election.
Bolsonaro has fueled fears that he might not accept the election results. Brazil had invited a European Union observer team to attend the elections in May.