142 million Brazilian voters begin voting for new president

At 8:00 a.m. on October 5 (local time - 6:00 p.m. Hanoi), more than 142 million Brazilian voters began casting their ballots in what is considered a dramatic general election.

The event is seen as a referendum on the 12-year rule of the Workers' Party (PT) as Latin America's most populous country faces an economic recession.

Candidates Marina Silva, Dilma Rousseff and Aecio Neves (from left to right), at a televised debate. (Source: AP)

The highest chance of winning the election is said to be leaning towards incumbent President Dilma Rousseff.

Of the 11 candidates this time, only the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (PSDB) Aecio Neves and the representative of the Socialist Party (PSB) Marina Silva can be opponents of Ms. Rousseff.

However, the latest polls released by public opinion polling agencies on October 4 show that Ms. Rousseff could win 44-46% of the vote, not enough to avoid a second round of elections. If this forecast is confirmed today, Brazil will have to wait until October 26 to choose the country's leader for the next four-year term.

In addition to electing the President, Brazilian voters also voted to re-elect all 513 seats in the Federal Chamber of Deputies and 1,059 seats in the state parliaments, replacing one-third of the 81 seats in the Federal Senate, and electing governors of all 27 states.

Voting will end at 7 p.m. local time. Preliminary election results are expected to be announced the same night (morning of October 6, Hanoi time).

More than 400,000 police and soldiers have been mobilized to ensure the election takes place in an orderly manner, especially in the city of Rio de Janeiro, where the number of staff has been doubled compared to normal, after recent days of gun battles between police and criminals in some slums that left five people dead, including two drug smugglers./.

According to VNA