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Politics · Latin America

Quaest puts Bolsonaro ahead as Brazil runoff polling shows a close race

A Quaest poll put Senator Flávio Bolsonaro at 46% and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at 44% in voting intentions for Brazil’s presidential runoff, a result the poll described as a statistical tie. The survey also found 9% planned to cast blank or invalid ballots or not vote, while 1% were undecided.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 5 outlets' reporting · Article text read from 2 of 5 outletsHow it's made

View timeline · 8 entries
5 outlets2 regionsLatest reporting 3 min readNo new reporting in 3 days
Coverage: MixedL 1 · C 1 · R 1 · 2 unrated
Updat3 graphic: Brazil
Updat3 graphic · Map data: Natural Earth Natural Earth (public domain)

What happened

Key facts

  • In the Quaest poll, 1% were undecided, while 9% said they would cast blank or invalid ballots or would not vote (per globo.com, mercopress.com).
  • Quaest found that 91% of respondents considered their runoff choice final and 9% said they might still change their minds (per globo.com).
  • Datafolha measured 51% of valid votes for Bolsonaro and 49% for Lula, with a two-point margin of error; its previous poll had recorded 52% and 48%, respectively (per mercopress.com).
  • Datafolha found that 54% said they would never vote for Bolsonaro and 53% said they would never vote for Lula (per mercopress.com).
  • In a TV Globo interview, Lula said he supported lowering the age of criminal responsibility for the most serious crimes, a proposal Bolsonaro had backed to reduce the age from 18 to 16 (per mercopress.com).
  • The runoff is scheduled for October 25 (per mercopress.com, globo.com).

The brief

A Quaest poll put Senator Flávio Bolsonaro at 46% and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at 44% in voting intentions for Brazil’s presidential runoff, describing the contest as a statistical tie. The survey is one of two polls cited in recent coverage of the race: Datafolha measured Bolsonaro at 51% and Lula at 49% of valid votes, with a two-point margin of error.

The figures use different measures. Quaest reported shares of voting intentions, while Datafolha reported shares of valid votes. Quaest’s result was also presented as a first poll for the runoff. Datafolha’s earlier poll had shown Bolsonaro at 52% and Lula at 48%, so its latest figures narrowed the gap by two percentage points.

The surveys therefore point to a close contest, but their percentages are not directly interchangeable. Quaest interviewed 2,154 people between Saturday (10) and Tuesday (13). Its poll found 1% undecided, while 9% said they would cast blank or invalid ballots or would not vote.

The same survey found that 91% regarded their runoff choice as final and 9% said they might change their minds. Datafolha separately reported that 9% planned a blank or spoiled ballot and 1% were undecided. Datafolha also measured strong rejection of both candidates: 54% said they would never vote for Bolsonaro, and 53% said they would never vote for Lula.

Those figures describe stated unwillingness to vote for a candidate, not a forecast of how the respondents will ultimately cast their ballots. The campaign has also featured a shared position on lowering the age of criminal responsibility in serious cases. In a TV Globo interview, Lula said he supported the proposal; Bolsonaro had backed reducing the age from 18 to 16.

The poll coverage thus places a policy position supported by both candidates alongside the close polling, without establishing how much the issue affects voter choices. Quaest’s director, in an analysis posted on social media, said young respondents were evenly split between greater fear of Bolsonaro returning to office and Lula remaining in office, at 45% each.

The same outlet reported that the government had announced measures for individual microentrepreneurs and a university scholarship program, but the poll account does not establish that those announcements changed voter intentions. The runoff is scheduled for October 25.

The surveys capture a close race, with substantial stated rejection of both candidates and most Quaest respondents saying their choice was settled; the remaining undecided and potentially changeable voters are among the figures that distinguish the poll’s snapshot from a final result.

Why it matters

  • The runoff electorate faces a closely measured choice: Quaest recorded 46% for Flávio Bolsonaro and 44% for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, while Datafolha found 51% and 49% of valid votes, respectively.
  • The stated rejection figures are high for both candidates: Datafolha found 54% would never vote for Bolsonaro and 53% would never vote for Lula, limiting what a lead in voting intentions alone says about the final contest.
  • In the Quaest survey, 9% said they might still change their choice, while 1% were undecided; those respondents represent a measurable share whose stated position was not settled.
  • Both candidates have backed lowering the age of criminal responsibility for the most serious crimes, with Bolsonaro supporting a reduction from 18 to 16 and Lula endorsing the proposal in a TV Globo interview.

What to watch next

  • Whether the final campaign polling continues to show a close contest between Flávio Bolsonaro and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
  • Whether the 9% of Quaest respondents who said they might change their minds report a different choice before the runoff.
  • How voters who said they would cast blank or invalid ballots or not vote—9% in the Quaest poll—figure in the runoff outcome.
  • The presidential runoff scheduled for October 25.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
5 source articles · 5 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Mixed· 1 Left · 1 Center · 1 Right · 2 unrated
Where the outlets are based: Latin America 40% · Middle East 20% · Other 40%
Outlet political mix
Mixed
Left
Center
Right
1 outlet
1 outlet
1 outlet
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once. 2 unrated outlets are not included.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
5 unique outletsDominant coverage: Latin America
How we measure coverage

One source is from a wire service (AP, Reuters, AFP or Bloomberg), whose reporting other outlets often republish.

How outlets' accounts compare

1 framing difference · 2 uncorroborated claims · 1 information gap
The reports repeat the same account with different emphasis; its central claims are not independently confirmed in the reporting Updat3 read.Compared across 2 reports whose article text Updat3 read; 3 other outlets were checked by headline only.
Framing / emphasis differences
Sources emphasise different angles, actors or consequences of the same reporting.
  • Al Jazeera’s headline says Bolsonaro is maintaining an edge, while teleSUR English’s headline characterizes the race as a technical tie; Reuters’ headline emphasizes that Bolsonaro’s lead in the Datafolha poll narrowed.
Updat3: These are differences of emphasis, not disputes about what is reported. They do not show that the reported claims are true.
One-sided or uncorroborated claims
Claims that come from one party or one source family and are not independently corroborated.
  • Quaest characterized the 46% to 44% result as a statistical tie.
  • Quaest’s director said young respondents were evenly split, at 45% each, between greater fear of Bolsonaro returning and Lula remaining in office.
Updat3: Not independently corroborated yet — treat as a claim, not an established fact.
Not established by the reporting
Information the available reporting does not contain or confirm. This is a gap, not a disagreement.
  • The sources do not report the eventual runoff result or provide a breakdown of polling results by region or demographic group beyond the stated young-voter finding.
Updat3: Updat3 cannot conclude anything about this from the current sources.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. Brazil promulgated a constitution requiring a presidential runoff if no candidate wins more than half of valid votes; it set the criminal-responsibility age at 18.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  2. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Brazil’s presidential runoff against José Serra.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  3. Lula won re-election in a runoff against Geraldo Alckmin.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  4. Jair Bolsonaro defeated Workers’ Party candidate Fernando Haddad in Brazil’s presidential runoff.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  5. In March 2021, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court annulled Lula’s convictions in cases handled by the Curitiba federal court, restoring his political rights and making him eligible to run again.
    Background · from our historical context
  6. Lula defeated Bolsonaro in Brazil’s presidential runoff.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  7. Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court ruled Bolsonaro ineligible to run for office for eight years.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  8. ScheduledThe runoff is scheduled for October 25.
    Reported in this story's sourcesSource:valorinternational.globo.com

How we got here

Brazil’s 1988 Constitution established a two-round presidential election: if no candidate wins more than half of valid votes in the first round, the leading candidates contest a runoff. Article 228 also sets 18 as the minimum age of criminal responsibility, so proposals to lower it require a constitutional amendment rather than an ordinary change to criminal law.

The current contest follows a direct electoral history between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro defeated Fernando Haddad, whom Lula’s Workers’ Party nominated after Lula was barred from running, in the 2018 presidential election.

Related developments1 story

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