Credit: Paulo Pinto/Agência Brasil

More than 158 million Brazilian voters will head to the polls this Sunday, October 4, to choose the country's next president, members of Congress and governors of the 26 states and the Federal District in a general election that will shape Brazil's political direction.

According to Brasil 247, incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party (PT) will face Senator Flávio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party (PL), the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, in the presidential race.

If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the valid votes, a runoff will be held on October 25.

Voting will take place from 8 am to 5 pm Brasília time. Brazil's Electoral Justice authorities have advised voters to plan ahead to avoid problems on election day.

This year's election is the largest in Brazil's history. Of the total electorate, 86 percent, or 136,541,551 people, are required to vote, while 14 percent, or 22,223,907 voters, may choose whether to participate.

A total of 141,321,493 voters, representing 89.01 percent of the electorate, have biometric data registered in the electoral system. Biometric identification is designed to speed up voter verification at polling stations.

The remaining 17,443,965 voters, or 10.99 percent of the electorate, who have not registered biometric data will still be allowed to vote normally.

More than 560,000 electronic voting machines have been transported to polling locations across the country. The equipment will be installed, prepared and kept under police protection until voting begins.

About 499,000 machines will be used during the election, while nearly 65,000 additional units will remain on standby to replace equipment if necessary.

Candidates, political parties and coalitions were allowed to conduct street campaigning until 10 pm on Saturday, October 3, marking the final hours of campaigning before Brazilians cast their ballots.

(Reported by Brasil 247 on October 4, 2026)