Sharjah24 – AFP: Leftist challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pulled ahead of far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro with around 70 percent of the votes counted Sunday in Brazil's presidential election, but a runoff looked likely.
Underperforming expectations based on pre-election opinion polls, Lula had 46 percent of the vote to 45.3 percent for Bolsonaro, with 73.3 percent of polling stations reporting, according to official results.
Lula, long considered the heavy favorite, actually started the night trailing Bolsonaro, whose bastions in the north and southeast were quicker to report results than Lula's stronghold in the northeast.
He pulled ahead with around 70 percent of polling stations reporting -- sparking ecstatic cheers at street parties where supporters decked out in the red of his Workers' Party had gathered to watch the results.
But the result looked surprisingly strong for Bolsonaro -- and disappointing for Lula.
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