Brazil's presidential runoff is likely, but the names on the ballot are the story

Voting has begun in Brazil's 2026 presidential election. DW reports that Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, is taking on incumbent left-wing president Lula da Silva, and that polls show the first round will likely require a runoff.

That a Bolsonaro is on the ballot — the son rather than the former president — is the structural fact worth holding onto. The runoff language matters too: "likely" is the polling expectation, not a result, and a first round that produces no outright winner is a different contest than the one polls were measuring a week earlier.