Lula Has Narrow Lead Over Bolsonaro With 82% Counted

(Bloomberg) -- Leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had a narrow lead over incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil’s runoff election with 82% of the votes counted.

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Lula had 50.4% of the votes to Bolsonaro’s 49.7%, the electoral court said as of 7 p.m. in Brasilia on Sunday. In the first round, Bolsonaro was ahead until about 70% of the ballots were tallied. Lula ended up winning that round, with 48% of the vote to 43% for the incumbent.

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Bolsonaro has improved his performance in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s most populous state. He was also holding a razor-thin advantage in Minas Gerais, the second most populous state, which was taken by Lula in the first round. The former president held a large advantage, however, in impoverished states of Brazil’s Northeast region.

More than 156 million Brazilians were registered to pick the next president of Latin America’s largest economy. Voters are also choosing governors for 12 states including Sao Paulo, the most populous.

Follow Updates on Brazil’s Presidential Runoff Election

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