Brazilians prepare to vote after months of drama in the presidential election


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The campaign was marked by the rise of a once marginal right-wing legislator, the disqualification of a former populist president who campaigned since his prison and the ongoing revelations of the "Car Wash" anti-transplant probe. which lasts for four years traditional political parties in the country of 200 million people.

Brazil also suffers from a prolonged economic recession and extreme violence, with murder rates hitting a record high last year.

Former army captain and congressman Jair Bolsonaro and former mayor of Sao Paulo Fernando Haddad are leading the poll on a group of 13 candidates.

According to polls published before the end of the election campaigns this week, Bolsonaro could capture up to 35% of the vote on Sunday.

"I'm scared," Marcio Correa, an advertising director who does not support any of the leaders, said in São Paulo. "Fascism is far too close and it is scary."

Bolsonaro makes comparisons with Donald Trump

Bolsonaro is a candidate for the Social-Liberal Party

Bolsonaro left few people unscathed in his throwing of flames against the Brazilian progressive movement. He has often been compared to US President Donald Trump and Filipino Rodrigo Duterte.

His opponents accused him of being a misogynist and a homophobe. At a parliamentary hearing, he once told a congressional woman that she did not deserve to be raped because she was "very ugly," reported the Brazilian TV channel Globo.

He also publicly stated that he preferred to see his son "die in an accident" than to introduce himself with another man.

Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro recovers after stabbing

During an electoral stop in the city of Juiz de Fora, Bolsonaro was stabbed in the stomach. The incident seemed to symbolize the unexplored territory in which the elections were held and led the candidate to the hospital for several weeks.

Bolsonaro started climbing the polls after stabbing, but its increased viability also spawned a viral campaign on social networks called #elenao or #nothim.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Brazil last weekend to express their opposition to Bolsonaro, often comparing him to Adolf Hitler on posters and songs.

Others see him as the anti-establishment candidate who will drain the marsh and attack violence.

David Lerner, a Sao Paulo businessman, said he supported Bolsonaro because it "represents a change" in the country. "He has never been part of a (federal) government." He has never been part of a corruption scandal, "said Lerner.

In addition to the conservative elements of the police and armed forces, Bolsonaro is supported by powerful evangelical pressure groups and the agri-food industry.

Haddad takes the place of Lula

Fernando Haddad, Workers & # 39; Party, is the other favorite in the presidential race
Haddad, former mayor of Sao Paulo, is at the head of the Workers Party. He became the default candidate after his vice president and former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva were prevented from running in the country's highest electoral court.

"Lula", as the former leader calls him, was leading polls although he's been in prison since April, where he is serving a 12-year sentence for corruption and money laundering. 39; money.

Claudine Dutra Melo, a historian, said that she would vote for Haddad because "there is no other candidate" to answer the "media-parliamentary-judicial state coup" against popular politicians in the country. "People think that voting for Bolsonaro is a protest vote," she said, "and they do not realize the risk that they run by being supportive of this kind of ideology" .

The election may end with a second round

None of the candidates in the lead should get the fifty percent majority required by law. A second round has already been scheduled for 28 October.

Voting is compulsory in Brazil for all citizens aged 18 to 70 years. People who do not vote without justification are often subject to fines and bureaucratic hurdles when renewing their passports or identity cards.

At least 11 percent of voters will leave their ballots blank or mark them as undecided, according to a recent poll of the Ibope polling agency.

The Brazilians will also vote for 27 governors and nearly 1,600 deputies this Sunday.

Kelly McCleary from CNN contributed to this story. Taylor Barnes reported in Atlanta and Marcia Reverdosa in Sao Paulo.

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