2022 Brazilian general election

General elections took place on 2 October 2022 in Brazil to elect the President, Vice President, and the National Congress.^[1] A run-off was held on 30 October.

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Presidential election
2 October 2022 (2022-10-02) (first round) 30 October 2022 (2022-10-30) (second round)
Opinion polls
Turnout	79.05% (first round) 79.41% (second round)
Candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Jair Bolsonaro Party Workers' Party Liberal Party Alliance Brazil of Hope For the Good of Brazil Home state São Paulo[a] Rio de Janeiro[b] Running mate Geraldo Alckmin Walter Braga Netto Popular vote 60,345,999 58,206,354 Percentage 50.90% 49.10%
Second round, shaded according to vote share First round, shaded according to vote share Presidential election results
President before election Jair Bolsonaro PL Elected President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva PT

There were more than 146 million registered voters in Brazil when this election took place, making the country the second largest democracy in the Americas and one of the largest in the world.^[2][3]

On 5 May 2022, President Jair Bolsonaro ordered an audit on the country's voting machines, five months before the election, with people believing should he lose the election he would not accept defeat.^[4]

On 2 October 2022, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva advanced to the run-off election on 30 October against President Bolsonaro.^[5] Lula won 48.43% of the vote against Bolsonaro's 43.20%.^[6]

On 30 October, Lula defeated Bolsonaro winning 50.90% of the vote against Bolsonaro's 49.10%.^[6] Two days later, Bolsonaro did not say he lost the election however agreed to a transition of power. After Bolsonaro lost, his supporters began blocking several roads and bridges.^[7]

On 8 January 2023, one week after Lula's inauguration, supporters of Bolsonaro stormed and invaded the Supreme Court of Brazil, the National Congress of Brazil and the Planalto Presidential Palace in the Praça dos Três Poderes plaza in Brasília, the federal capital.

Voting rules

To vote in Brazil, voters must be citizens over 16 years old and is mandatory for those between 18 and 70 years old. Those who do not vote in an election and do not show a reason why must pay a fine, normally R$3.51^[8][9][10] (same as US$0.67 as of June 2022).^[11]

Brazilian citizens living abroad may only vote for president and vice president.^[12] Portuguese citizens legally living in Brazil for more than three years may also register to vote in Brazilian elections.^[13]

Other elections

Other national elections will be held at the same time as the presidential election. Governors and Vice Governors of Brazil's states and of the Federal District will also be elected at the same time.

One-third of the 81 members of the Federal Senate will be elected, the other two-thirds having been elected in 2018.^[14]

All 513 members of the Chamber of Deputies (Federal Deputies) will be elected. The Chamber elections are held using open list proportional representation.^[15][16]

Main presidential candidates

Candidates in runoff

Party		Presidential candidate[17]		Vice presidential candidate[c]		Coalition
	(PT 13)		Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (campaign) President of Brazil (2003–2010) Federal Deputy for São Paulo (1987–1991)		Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) Governor of São Paulo (2001–2006, 2011–2018) Vice Governor of São Paulo (1995–2001)	Brazil of Hope: FE Brasil (PT, PCdoB, PV) PSOL REDE (PSOL, REDE) Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) Solidariedade Avante Act (AGIR) Republican Party of the Social Order (PROS)
	(PL 22)		Jair Bolsonaro (campaign) President of Brazil (since 2019) Federal Deputy for Rio de Janeiro (1991–2018)		Walter Braga Netto Minister of Defence (2021–2022) Chief of Staff of the Presidency (2020–2021)	For the Good of Brazil: Liberal Party (PL) Republicans Progressistas (PP)

Eliminated in first round

• 
  Senator
  Simone Tebet
  (MDB)
  from Mato Grosso do Sul
  (endorsed Lula da Silva)^[18]
• 
  Former Deputy
  Ciro Gomes
  (PDT)
  from Ceará
  (endorsed Lula da Silva)^[18]
• 
  Senator
  Soraya Thronicke
  (UNIÃO)
  from Mato Grosso do Sul
• 
  Businessman
  Luiz Felipe d'Avila
  (NOVO)
  from São Paulo
• 
  Former Deputy
  Roberto Jefferson
  (PTB)
  from Rio de Janeiro

  (Candidacy denied)^[d]
• 
  Party President
  Leonardo Péricles
  (UP)
  from Minas Gerais
• 
  Professor
  Sofia Manzano
  (PCB)
  from São Paulo
  (endorsed Lula da Silva)^[18]
• 
  Professor
  Vera Lúcia Salgado
  (PSTU)
  from Pernambuco
• 
  Former Deputy
  José Maria Eymael
  (DC)
  from São Paulo

Withdrawn

• 
  Former Justice Minister
  Sergio Moro
  (PODE)
  from Paraná
  (withdrew 31 March 2022; endorsed Tebet, then Bolsonaro)^[20][21]
• 
  Former Governor
  João Doria
  (PSDB)
  of São Paulo
  (withdrew 23 May 2022; endorsed Tebet)^[22][23]
• 
  Deputy
  Luciano Bivar
  (UNIÃO)
  from Pernambuco
  (withdrew 31 July 2022; endorsed Thronicke)^[24]
• 
  Deputy
  André Janones
  (AVANTE)
  from Minas Gerais
  (withdrew 4 August 2022; endorsed Lula da Silva)^[25]

Debates

As of April 2022, the following TV stations confirmed presidential debates:^[26]

2022 Brazilian presidential election debates
No.	Date, time and location	Hosts	Moderators	Participants[e]
Key:  P  Present  A  Absent  I  Invited  Out  Out of the election				PL	PT	NOVO	PDT	MDB	UNIÃO	PTB
				Bolsonaro	Lula	d'Avila	Gomes	Tebet	Thronicke	Souza
1.1	Sunday, 28 August 2022, 21:00, São Paulo[29]	Bandeirantes, TV Cultura, Folha, UOL	Adriana Araújo, Eduardo Oinegue, Fabíola Cidral, Leão Serva	P	P	P	P	P	P	Out[f]
1.2	Saturday, 24 September 2022, 18:15, Osasco[30]	SBT, CNN Brazil, Estado, Veja, Terra, NovaBrasil FM	Carlos Nascimento	P	A	P	P	P	P	P
1.3	Thursday, 29 September 2022, 22:30, Rio de Janeiro[31]	Globo	William Bonner	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
2.1	Sunday, 16 October 2022, 20:00, São Paulo[32]	Bandeirantes, TV Cultura, Folha, UOL	Adriana Araújo, Eduardo Oinegue, Fabíola Cidral, Leão Serva	P	P	Out
2.2	Monday, 17 October 2022, Osasco[33]	RedeTV!	TBD	P	P	Out
2.3	Friday, 21 October 2022, 21:30, Osasco[34]	SBT, CNN Brazil, Estado, Veja, Terra, NovaBrasil FM	Carlos Nascimento	I	I	Out
2.4	Sunday, 23 October 2022, São Paulo[33]	Record	TBD	I	I	Out
2.5	Friday, 28 October 2022, 21:30, Rio de Janeiro[35]	Globo	TBD	I	I	Out

Opinion polling

First round

Local regression of polls conducted

Polling average

Aggregator	Last update	Jair Bolsonaro PL	Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva PT	Ciro Gomes PDT	Simone Tebet MDB	Others [g]	Abst. Undec.	Lead
The Economist[36]	1 Oct 2022	38%	51%	5%	6%	(N/A)	(N/A)	Lula +13.0
Veja[37]	1 Oct 2022	33.7%	44.7%	6.8%	4.7%	(N/A)	(N/A)	Lula +11.0
Estadão[38]	1 Oct 2022	33%	47%	5%	6%	2%	7%	Lula +14.0
CNN Brasil[39]	1 Oct 2022	34%	48%	5%	6%	2%	6%	Lula +14.0
PollingData[40]	1 Oct 2022	37.5%	43.7%	5.1%	5.3%	1.9%	6.5%	Lula +6.2
El Pais[41]	1 Oct 2022	35.3%	46.7%	6.0%	4.9%	(N/A)	(N/A)	Lula +11.4
El Electoral[42]	1 Oct 2022	38.5%	48.5%	5.5%	5.0%	(N/A)	(N/A)	Lula +10.0
Pollstergraph[43]	1 Oct 2022	37.1%	44.8%	5.6%	4.7%			Lula +7.7

Second round

Local regression of polls conducted

Polling average

Aggregator	Last update	Jair Bolsonaro PL	Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva PT	Blank/Null/ Undec.	Lead
The Economist[44]	16 Oct 2022	48%	52%	(N/A)	Lula +4.0
Estadão[45]	14 Oct 2022	41%	49%	10%	Lula +8.0
PollingData	14 Oct 2022	44.3%	47.4%	8%	Lula +3.1
CNN Brasil	12 Oct 2022	42%	50%	8%	Lula +8.0

Bolsonaro's claims of fraud

Bolsonaro has said that Brazilian electronic ballots might make vote rigging easier.^{[46][47][48][49]}

During the 2018 elections, many social media platforms had fake claims that electronic ballots had been set up to support candidates other than Bolsonaro, and that he had won the presidential election in the first round.^[50] However none of these claims were proven true.^[51] As president, Bolsonaro kept on saying that the 2022 election will have fraud voting and wanted to have an election audit.^[52]

In July 2022, Bolsonaro said that the voting system in Brazil was weak and that it was possible for voter fraud and rigging to happen in the 2022 election.^[53] Brazilian and international law experts, political analysts, and authorities have said Bolsonaro's claims are not true. Many worry that Bolsonaro's false fraud claims might be seen as a self-coup, such as the 2021 United States Capitol attack, should Bolsonaro lose the election.^{[54][55][56][57]} Bolsonaro has looked for police and military support, which many saw as him planning a coup should he lose.^[58]

2023 invasion of the Brazilian Congress

Main article: 2023 invasion of the Brazilian Congress

On 8 January 2023, supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed and invaded the Praça dos Três Poderes in Brasília, taking over the offices of the Supreme Federal Court, National Congress of Brazil and the Palácio do Planalto.^[59] The event was seen as an attempted coup d'état to overturn the election results of the 2022 general election.^[60]

Results

Candidate		Running mate	Party	First round		Second round
				Votes	%	Votes	%
	Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva	Geraldo Alckmin (PSB)	Workers' Party	57,259,504	48.43	0	–
	Jair Bolsonaro (incumbent)	Walter Braga Netto	Liberal Party	51,072,345	43.20	0	–
	Simone Tebet	Mara Gabrilli (PSDB)	Brazilian Democratic Movement	4,915,423	4.16
	Ciro Gomes	Ana Paula Matos	Democratic Labour Party	3,599,287	3.04
	Soraya Thronicke	Marcos Cintra	Brazil Union	600,955	0.51
	Luiz Felipe d'Avila	Tiago Mitraud	New Party	559,708	0.47
	Kelmon Souza	Luiz Cláudio Gamonal	Brazilian Labour Party	81,129	0.07
	Leonardo Péricles	Samara Martins	Popular Unity	53,519	0.05
	Sofia Manzano	Antonio Alves	Brazilian Communist Party	45,620	0.04
	Vera Lúcia Salgado	Kunã Yporã Tremembé	United Socialist Workers' Party	25,625	0.02
	José Maria Eymael	João Barbosa Bravo	Christian Democracy	16,604	0.01
Total				118,229,719	100.00	0	–
Valid votes				118,229,719	95.59	0	–
Invalid votes				3,487,874	2.82	0	–
Blank votes				1,964,779	1.59	0	–
Total votes				123,682,372	100.00	0	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				156,453,354	79.05	156,453,354	0.00
Source: Superior Electoral Court

Notes

1. Born in Pernambuco, domiciled in São Paulo.
2. Born in São Paulo, domiciled in Rio de Janeiro.
3. Same party as the presidential candidate, unless mentioned in parentheses
4. PTB initially nominated Roberto Jefferson for president and Kelmon Souza for vice president. On 1 September 2022, the Superior Electoral Court denied Jefferson's candidacy and ruled him ineligible for public office until 24 December 2023 because of a past criminal conviction. After this ruling, the party nominated Kelmon Souza for president and Luiz Cláudio Gamonal for vice president.^[19]
5. Debates broadcast on television or radio were legally required to invite all candidates whose parties or coalitions had at least five members in the National Congress based on the most recent election.^[27] The candidates listed in this table satisfied this condition.^[28]
6. Roberto Jefferson, the candidate of PTB at the time of this debate, was not invited as his eligibility was disputed. He was later ruled ineligible and replaced by Kelmon Souza.
7. This column presents the sum of candidates who do not reach 3% frequently.