Brazil Elects Lula, a Leftist Former Leader, in a Rebuke of Bolsonaro - The New York Times

BRASÍLIA — Voters successful Brazil connected Sunday ousted President Jair Bolsonaro aft conscionable 1 word and elected the leftist erstwhile President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to regenerate him, predetermination officials said, a rebuke to Mr. Bolsonaro’s far-right question and his divisive 4 years successful office.

The triumph completes a stunning governmental revival for Mr. da Silva — from the presidency to situation and back — that had erstwhile seemed unthinkable.

It besides ends Mr. Bolsonaro’s turbulent clip arsenic the region’s astir almighty leader. For years, helium attracted planetary attraction for policies that accelerated the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and exacerbated the pandemic, which near astir 700,000 dormant successful Brazil, portion besides becoming a large planetary fig of the acold close for his brash attacks connected the left, the media and Brazil’s antiauthoritarian institutions.

More recently, his efforts to undermine Brazil’s predetermination system drew peculiar interest astatine location and abroad, arsenic good arsenic worldwide attraction to Sunday’s ballot arsenic an important trial for 1 of the world’s largest democracies.

Without evidence, the president has criticized the nation’s physics voting machines arsenic rife with fraud and suggested helium mightiness not judge a loss, overmuch similar erstwhile President Donald J. Trump. Many of his supporters vowed to instrumentality to the streets astatine his command.

As of 11 p.m. section clip connected Sunday night, Mr. Bolsonaro had not publically commented connected the election’s outcome. The questions of whether helium would concede and erstwhile remained unclear.

The results connected Sunday showed that tens of millions of Brazilians had grown bushed of his polarizing benignant and the predominant turmoil of his administration. It was the archetypal clip an incumbent president failed to triumph re-election successful the 34 years of Brazil’s modern democracy.

Still, Mr. da Silva won with the narrowest borderline of triumph implicit that aforesaid period, signaling the heavy disagreement that helium volition face arsenic president.

He won 50.90 percent of the votes, versus Mr. Bolsonaro’s 49.10 percent with 99.98 percent of the ballot counted Sunday night.

“I volition govern for 215 cardinal Brazilians, and not conscionable for those who voted for me,” Mr. da Silva said successful his triumph code Sunday night, speechmaking from pages held by his caller wife, whom helium joined this year. “There are not 2 Brazils. We are 1 country, 1 people, 1 large nation.”

Mr. da Silva, 77, a erstwhile metalworker and national person with a fifth-grade education, led Brazil during its roar successful the archetypal decennary of the century, but helium was aboriginal convicted connected corruption charges aft helium near bureau and spent 580 days successful prison.

Last year, the Supreme Court threw retired those convictions, ruling that the justice successful his cases was biased, and voters rallied down the antheral known simply arsenic “Lula.”

Mr. da Silva’s predetermination brings an extremity to a statesmanlike contention that was wide regarded arsenic one of the astir important votes successful Latin America successful decades, a lucifer betwixt possibly Brazil’s 2 biggest surviving governmental figures, with starkly antithetic visions to reverse the country’s fortunes.

His triumph besides pushes Brazil backmost to the left, extending a drawstring of leftist victories crossed Latin America, fueled by a question of anti-incumbent backlash. Six of the region’s 7 largest countries person present elected leftist leaders since 2018.

Despite his victory, a sizable information of Brazil’s 217 cardinal radical inactive presumption Mr. da Silva arsenic corrupt due to the fact that of the immense authorities kickback strategy uncovered years aft helium near office. And portion his corruption convictions were nullified, Mr. da Silva was ne'er ruled innocent.

Yet, amid those flaws, the beardown absorption to Mr. Bolsonaro and his far-right question was capable to transportation Mr. da Silva backmost to the presidency.

“He’s not the solution to each problem. But he’s our lone hope,” said Stefane Silva de Jesus, a 30-year-old librarian, aft she formed her ballot for Mr. da Silva successful Rio de Janeiro.

He is acceptable to instrumentality bureau connected Jan. 1.

Flávia Milhorance and Ana Ionova contributed reporting from Rio de Janeiro, André Spigariol from Brasília and Laís Martins from São Paulo.

The predetermination of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is simply a drastic displacement backmost to the near for Brazil aft 4 years of President Jair Bolsonaro’s far-right administration.

While the erstwhile leftist person has vowed to “reestablish harmony” successful the country, his circumstantial plans, person been vague. Mr. da Silva’s stump code revolved astir expanding services for the poor, including much societal payment payments, a higher minimum wage and programs to provender and location much people. To wage for it, helium said helium would rise taxes connected the affluent but besides simply summation authorities spending.

How overmuch helium volition beryllium capable to instrumentality is unclear. Mr. Bolsonaro’s right-wing enactment holds the astir seats successful Congress and a almighty centrist bloc controls some the House and Senate; the state faces worse economical conditions than during Mr. da Silva’s archetypal administration; and the interventionist policies of Mr. da Silva’s handpicked successor arsenic president led Brazil into a recession successful 2014 from which it has inactive not afloat recovered.

His election, however, volition apt beryllium bully quality for the wellness of the Amazon rainforest, which is captious to the combat against clime change. Mr. Bolsonaro championed industries that extract the forest’s resources portion slashing funds and staffing for the agencies tasked with protecting it. As a result, deforestation soared during his administration.

Mr. da Silva has a overmuch amended way grounds connected protecting the forest, reducing deforestation portion president. He campaigned connected a committedness to eradicate amerciable mining and logging and said helium would propulsion farmers to usage areas of the wood that had already been cleared.

Mr. da Silva’s triumph was successful portion acknowledgment to a wide coalition, from communists to centrists, arsenic the Brazilian electorate sought stableness aft Mr. Bolsonaro’s volatile term, which was marked by clashes with the courts, a pandemic that killed much people than anyplace but the United States, and predominant attacks connected the left, the media, academics, wellness professionals and the nation’s antiauthoritarian institutions.

Mr. Bolsonaro, 67, has faced a assortment of investigations successful the Supreme Court and Congress, including for his statements attacking the predetermination system, his handling of the pandemic and his imaginable engagement successful disinformation operations.

So far, helium has avoided immoderate consequences from those probes, successful portion due to the fact that of his immunity arsenic president. After helium leaves bureau connected Jan. 1, those investigations could summation steam.

Mr. Bolsonaro has besides had overmuch of his enactment arsenic president shielded from government-transparency laws due to the fact that his medication efficaciously classified galore records for up to 100 years, including his vaccine status.

Mr. da Silva has vowed to declassify those records erstwhile president. “When we assistance the carpet, you’re going to spot the rot underneath,” helium said astatine Friday’s debate.

André Spigariol contributed reporting.

RIO DE JANEIRO — For months, President Jair Bolsonaro and galore of his supporters had suggested that if the far-right incumbent did not triumph re-election connected Sunday, it would lone beryllium acknowledgment to fraud.

Yet successful the aftermath of Mr. Bolsonaro’s nonaccomplishment connected Sunday, it appeared that the president’s allies had small appetite to quality the results.

Far-right lawmakers, blimpish pundits and galore of Mr. Bolsonaro’s supporters recognized that their preferred campaigner had been defeated. No salient voices connected Brazil’s close explicitly claimed fraud, and portion galore supporters connected the streets and online claimed the ballot was rigged, they did not look acceptable to combat implicit it.

“I don’t cognize if my ballot was counted nor the votes of the radical here,” said Marcelo Costa Andrade, 45, a authorities idiosyncratic scrolling done his telephone astatine what helium hoped would beryllium a triumph enactment successful Mr. Bolsonaro’s wealthy, beachside vicinity successful Rio de Janeiro. “I consciousness robbed.”

Yet, contempt his suspicion that the predetermination mightiness person been stolen, helium was preparing to caput out. “Now I’ll spell home, speech to my family, thin connected God and hold for Bolsonaro to accidental something,” helium said.

Carla Zambelli, a far-right congresswoman who has warned, without evidence, of rigged elections for years, posted connected Twitter connected Sunday nighttime that President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known arsenic Lula, had won. “The imagination of state of much than 51 cardinal Brazilians lives on,” she wrote. “And I PROMISE you, I volition beryllium the toughest absorption Lula has ever imagined.”

It was not each quiet. Truckers successful the bosom of Brazil’s cardinal farming portion started fires and tried to artifact a main road important for the agriculture industry, according to videos posted connected societal media and section quality reports.

Still, the contiguous absorption from Brazil’s close was a acold outcry from what galore successful Brazil had feared successful the lawsuit of Mr. Bolsonaro’s defeat, peculiarly arsenic constrictive arsenic the last results were.

Mr. Bolsonaro has agelong attacked Brazil’s predetermination strategy arsenic rife with fraud, contempt a deficiency of evidence, and warned for much than a twelvemonth that helium mightiness not judge a loss. That created a tense creation implicit the aboriginal of Brazil’s democracy, involving Mr. Bolsonaro, judges, predetermination officials, the equipped forces and millions of his supporters.

Talk of a imaginable coup dominated governmental treatment astatine times this year, but the aboriginal signs connected Sunday suggested that Mr. Bolsonaro would person small accidental to successfully clasp connected to powerfulness if helium tried to.

Still, Mr. Bolsonaro was the tremendous dependable missing from the conversation. After 10 p.m. section time, 2 hours aft predetermination officials had called the race, helium inactive had not commented, and immoderate of his apical aides did not respond to requests for comment.

Fábio Faria, Mr. Bolsonaro’s communications curate and 1 of the driving forces of his re-election campaign, posted connected Twitter and Instagram an aged photograph of Mr. Bolsonaro smiling with a caption that simply read, “You made america arrogant to beryllium Brazilian again.”

André Spigariol contributed reporting from Brasília and Ana Ionova from Rio de Janeiro.

While the predetermination is over, determination remains the interest for the wellness of 1 of the world’s biggest democracies. President Jair Bolsonaro has spent years attacking Brazil’s antiauthoritarian institutions, including a sustained effort to undermine its voting system, starring millions of Brazilians to suffer religion successful the integrity of their nation’s elections.

Now, overmuch of the state is wondering: Will helium judge his defeat?

Sunday’s ballot divided this state of 217 cardinal radical astir down the middle, with galore voters connected each broadside viewing the prime arsenic an existential 1 for the nation.

Yet successful the aftermath of the ballot that ousted Mr. Bolsonaro aft conscionable 1 term, determination was small contiguous motion that the president’s allies and supporters would equine an effort to quality the results.

Far-right lawmakers who had warned of fraud successful the past immediately recognized Mr. da Silva arsenic the president-elect. Prominent blimpish pundits called Mr. da Silva an ex-convict and corrupt, but did not assertion the predetermination was rigged. And galore of Mr. Bolsonaro’s supporters connected the streets of Rio de Janeiro, portion shouting astir fraud successful general, cleared retired of a gathering extracurricular the president’s condo successful Rio de Janeiro to instrumentality to their homes dejected.

As of 11 p.m. section time, Mr. Bolsonaro had yet to concede oregon publically code the country.

The adjacent race, precocious stakes and heavy polarization led to an disfigured predetermination campaign. Misinformation has soared successful caller weeks, with supporters of Mr. da Silva accusing Mr. Bolsonaro of being a cannibal and a pedophile, portion Mr. Bolsonaro’s supporters person called Mr. da Silva a pack leader, a communist and a Satanist who wants to adjacent the nation’s churches.

Election officials tried to intervene, ordering posts and videos disconnected the net that they said were false. Those efforts slowed the deluge of misleading information, but they besides became their ain controversy, drafting a swell of complaints of unfair refereeing, peculiarly from Mr. Bolsonaro and his allies.

Last year, Mr. Bolsonaro told his supporters determination were lone 3 outcomes to the election: He wins, helium is killed oregon helium is arrested. He past added, “Tell the bastards I’ll ne'er beryllium arrested.”

That benignant of rhetoric raised alarms that Mr. Bolsonaro would not judge the results. He was 1 of the past satellite leaders to admit President Biden’s triumph successful 2020, repeating erstwhile President Donald J. Trump’s mendacious claims that the predetermination was stolen, including just 2 days earlier his archetypal gathering with Mr. Biden earlier this year.

There is nary credible grounds of fraud successful Brazil’s physics voting machines since they were introduced successful 1996. Yet Mr. Bolsonaro has questioned the strategy for years.

Earlier this year, his disapproval of the strategy took connected caller gravity when Brazil’s subject joined in. Leaders of the equipped forces pushed predetermination officials for changes to the system, rattling a state that suffered nether a subject dictatorship from 1964 to 1985.

But yet subject and predetermination officials agreed to a alteration to immoderate tests of the voting machines connected Election Day, and subject leaders person since suggested they are satisfied with the system’s security.

In caller weeks, subject leaders besides said privately that they would not enactment immoderate efforts by Mr. Bolsonaro to situation the results.

On Friday, successful an interrogation aft the last debate, Mr. Bolsonaro was asked straight whether helium would judge the vote’s results, careless of outcome.

“There’s nary doubt,” helium said. “Whoever gets much votes, takes it. That’s democracy.”

The erstwhile footwear radiance lad who roseate to the presidency near bureau a small much than a decennary agone with stone prima popularity, the embodiment of a federation that appeared to beryllium connected the cusp of greatness.

The downfall of that president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and of his country, Brazil, was conscionable arsenic dramatic. A corruption ungraded landed him successful situation and exposed the malfeasance and miscalculations that helped bring an epoch of prosperity to a screeching halt, dragging down Latin America’s largest system and mounting successful question a play of governmental turbulence.

Mr. da Silva has ne'er afloat acknowledged the relation of his Workers’ Party successful the authorities corruption strategy that persisted for overmuch of the 13 years it was successful power. The investigation, called Operation Carwash, revealed however companies paid hundreds of millions of dollars successful bribes to authorities officials successful speech for nationalist contracts.

Mr. da Silva says that governmental enemies framed him to destruct the Workers’ Party from Brazilian politics. He has besides accused the U.S. authorities of helping to thrust the investigation.

The Carwash probe was yet engulfed successful its ain scandal, arsenic it became wide that it had been used arsenic a governmental tool. Prosecutors focused connected the crimes of the Workers’ Party implicit different parties, and investigators leaked Mr. da Silva’s taped conversations. Sergio Moro, the national justice overseeing the case, was aboriginal revealed to be colluding with prosecutors, portion besides acting arsenic the sole arbiter successful galore of the trials.

Mr. da Silva was convicted doubly — successful 2017 and 2019 — of accepting a condo and renovations from a operation institution bidding connected authorities contracts. He was sentenced to a full of 22 years successful prison.

After 580 days down bars, helium was released successful November 2019 aft the Supreme Court ruled helium could beryllium acceptable escaped portion pursuing appeals.

Then, successful 2021, the Supreme Court threw retired his convictions, ruling that they were tried successful the incorrect tribunal and that Mr. Moro was biased.

Now, Mr. da Silva has go Brazil’s president erstwhile again, successful an unthinkable governmental resurrection that astatine 1 clip seemed unthinkable.

Jair Bolsonaro won Brazil’s past statesmanlike predetermination pledging to cleanable up politics, and since taking bureau successful 2019, helium had said at slightest 237 times that his authorities had “zero corruption.”

Those assertions resonated with supporters of Mr. Bolsonaro arsenic helium faced a choky runoff connected Sunday for the presidency against the once-imprisoned erstwhile President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

In caller weeks, however, Mr. Bolsonaro disquieted astir the imaginable of situation himself, according to 2 elder officials who heard those concerns from the president and spoke anonymously to picture backstage conversations.

Despite his assertions, Mr. Bolsonaro and his interior ellipse person faced investigations connected accusations including the embezzlement of nationalist funds, theft of unit wages and mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic. The inquiries had been staved disconnected oregon blocked truthful far, fixed his governmental power and statesmanlike immunity.

But that whitethorn alteration present that Mr. Bolsonaro mislaid Sunday’s statesmanlike election.

“After leaving office, determination is nary immunity, none, for crimes committed by a erstwhile president successful Brazil,” said Eloísa Machado, a instrumentality prof astatine Fundação Getulio Vargas, a assemblage and probe enactment successful São Paulo, Brazil.

Brazilian instrumentality leaves little country for mentation connected the contented than successful the United States, wherever erstwhile President Donald J. Trump’s assertions of statesmanlike immunity person helped him maneuver astir investigations and lawsuits.

In Brazil, lone the lawyer wide tin analyse an acting president, and lone the Supreme Court tin prosecute one, which “definitely helps forestall investigations,” according to Davi Tangerino, a instrumentality prof astatine the State University of Rio de Janeiro.

In 2019, Mr. Bolsonaro appointed Augusto Aras arsenic lawyer general, ignoring a two-decade contented of national prosecutors’ choosing their chief. Since then, the lawyer general’s bureau has shelved much than 100 enquiry requests, astir related to Mr. Bolsonaro’s chaotic and perchance corrupt effect to the pandemic and his attacks on the Supreme Court.

“The lawyer wide gave him a shield from immoderate liability,” Ms. Machado said.

In addition, Mr. Bolsonaro and 2 of his sons person been implicated successful allegations that they took portions of unit members’ wages during their presumption arsenic congressmen. Last year, the lawyer general’s bureau opened inquiries into the president’s cases, but determination has been nary question connected them.

A mates of months ago, the household finances were thrown into the spotlight with reporting by the quality tract UOL indicating that fractional the family’s 107 existent property purchases had been bought with cash. Prosecutors successful Rio de Janeiro are examining whether 25 of those were purchased with wealth siphoned from unit wages.

The president had besides managed to support a choky clasp connected Congress, which has deferred much than 130 impeachment requests. The Brazilian quality outlets Estadão and Piauí reported that, successful exchange, his medication had allowed a fistful of members of Congress to assistance much than $8 cardinal for their determination electoral bases. A mates of weeks ago, the national constabulary arrested 2 people linked to this alleged embezzlement scheme, dubbed “the concealed budget.”

To shield himself and his ellipse from scrutiny, Mr. Bolsonaro had besides extended protections against dozens of requests for information, imposing 100-year secrecy classifications connected information similar the names of radical who visited the statesmanlike palace and communications from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. da Silva, who went to situation for corruption, has utilized the contented successful his campaign, vowing, “On my archetypal time of government, I volition assistance these secrecies.”

André Spigariol contributed reporting.

— Flávia Milhorance

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s elections main ordered the caput of the country’s road constabulary to reply allegations that helium had ordered postulation stops, peculiarly of buses transporting voters to the polls, successful an effort to suppress turnout successful Sunday’s statesmanlike election.

There were dozens of reports connected societal media connected Sunday that national road agents were stopping vehicles and questioning radical successful respective states crossed Brazil. Such stops appeared to interruption orders from predetermination officials connected Saturday to halt immoderate postulation stops connected Election Day that could hinder people’s efforts to vote.

Alexandre de Moraes, a Supreme Court justness who leads Brazil’s predetermination agency, issued an bid to the caput of Brazil’s national road police, calling connected the authoritative to supply impervious that his officers were not violating predetermination rules to payment President Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right incumbent.

In the order, Mr. Moraes included a nexus to a tweet from a idiosyncratic claiming that the road constabulary had acceptable up a roadblock successful the northeastern metropolis of Cuité and were not letting radical pass. “It’s already driving distant the colonisation of the countryside!” the tweet said. Brazil’s northeast is simply a leftist stronghold.

On Sunday afternoon, Mr. Moraes told reporters that predetermination officials’ archetypal probe recovered that the stops delayed the buses, but they each inactive reached their intended polling stations. “We didn’t person immoderate voters who didn’t ballot due to the fact that of the operations,” helium said.

Silvinei Vasques, the road constabulary chief, responded to Mr. Moraes’s bid to halt Election Day postulation stops, saying that the road constabulary would not people nationalist buses. But, helium added, the constabulary would proceed to behaviour stops because, helium said, Mr. Moraes’s bid did not use to each national road operations.

As of Sunday afternoon, the national road constabulary had stopped much than 550 buses crossed the country, according to a national road serviceman with entree to interior information who spoke connected information of anonymity. On Sunday, Oct. 2, successful the archetypal circular of voting, the road constabulary stopped astir 300 buses, according to the officer.

A station connected Mr. Vasques’s authoritative Instagram relationship connected Saturday urged radical to ballot for Mr. Bolsonaro, according to O Globo, 1 of Brazil’s biggest newspapers. The benignant of connection helium posted automatically disappears from Instagram aft 24 hours and was nary longer disposable connected Sunday. Mr. Vazques had antecedently posted assorted photos with Mr. Bolsonaro.

Thomas Thaler, 45, a machine programmer, said his woman gave up connected voting aft her autobus got stuck successful postulation and past was stopped by road constabulary connected the mode to ballot successful Recife, a ample metropolis connected Brazil’s northeastern coast. She yet exited the autobus and took a antithetic autobus backmost home. She said she had planned to ballot for Mr. da Silva.

Jessica Sousa, 22, a student, said she was stuck successful postulation adjacent Cuité successful Brazil’s northeast and past yet questioned by the road police, who requested her I.D. and asked astir her plans. She yet managed to get to a polling presumption and ballot for Mr. da Silva.

— Ana Ionova, André Spigariol, Laís Martins and Jack Nicas

As leftist leaders person swept into bureau crossed Latin America successful caller years, Brazil’s diplomatic relations with the portion person cooled nether the right-wing incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro, who had bashed galore of his caller peers.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has promised to reconstruct stronger relations with the country’s neighbors.

Mr. Bolsonaro blamed Argentina’s left-wing authorities for mismanaging that country’s economy, hurled insults astatine Chile’s caller leftist president and urged voters to cull Mr. da Silva successful bid to halt Brazil from “turning into Venezuela.”

Brazil’s president “has utilized Latin America arsenic a awesome of a leftist backslide,” said Esther Solano, an planetary relations prof astatine the Federal University of São Paulo. “Latin American communism is this communal enemy, this boogeyman.”

Mr. Bolsonaro’s disapproval truthful severely strained relations betwixt Brazil, Latin America’s biggest country, and its neighbors that galore determination leaders were rooting for Mr. da Silva, known universally arsenic Lula, according to 2 South American diplomats who spoke connected the information of anonymity to speech astir the backstage discussions successful their governments.

After Mr. da Silva emerged arsenic the apical vote-getter successful the election’s archetypal circular connected Oct. 2, President Alberto Fernández of Argentina wrote connected Twitter: “I congratulate my beloved Lula for his victory.”

During his 2 presumption successful office, from 2003 done 2010, Mr. da Silva pushed to deepen determination alliances, astir notably done Mercosur, South America’s main governmental and trading bloc. The erstwhile unionist adjacent projected a azygous currency for the region, though the thought — deemed unviable by astir experts — ne'er got disconnected the ground. Still, helium has raised the thought again successful his existent campaign.

“He volition bash immoderate it takes to reposition Brazil — similar helium did successful the aboriginal 2000s — arsenic a person successful South America,” said Guilherme Casarões, a governmental idiosyncratic astatine the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, a Brazil-based probe institute.

Hussein Kalout, an planetary relations researcher astatine Harvard University who has participated successful immoderate of Mr. da Silva’s caller meetings with overseas officials, said that Mr. da Silva wants to summation practice with different Latin American countries astir clime change.

“Brazil is wholly adrift and isolated successful its ain region, and this is not good,” helium said.

Mr. Bolsonaro, elected successful 2018 connected promises to spot “Brazil supra everything,” took a much isolationist approach, reducing determination commercialized and quitting determination bodies.

Sunday’s predetermination could besides beryllium a important bellwether of Latin America’s governmental map. The right-wing populism that propelled Mr. Bolsonaro has mostly petered retired and Mr. da Silva’s triumph volition apt cement the pivot to the left.

— Ana Ionova and André Spigariol

Amid Brazil’s astir divisive elections successful its young antiauthoritarian history, the country’s labour watchdog has been flooded with complaints astir “electoral harassment” from employees against their bosses. Business radical passim the federation are reportedly offering bonuses to workers who perpetrate to voting for their preferred campaigner and adjacent threatening workers with fund cuts and layoffs successful lawsuit of defeat.

This amerciable run maneuver was archetypal recorded successful 2018 erstwhile labour prosecutors identified 212 cases among 98 companies. But the signifier became wide successful 2022, particularly aft the archetypal round. Currently, labour authorities are investigating 2,247 complaints against 1,869 companies in all of Brazil’s 27 states.

Many of those cases person successful communal employers who are trying to steer votes distant from the leftist candidate, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a erstwhile president who led the contention successful the archetypal circular vote. The harassment became specified a large contented for the near that unions formed a associated task unit to collect complaints.

Cases person been recovered successful assorted industries, including the cultivation sector, a captious portion of the country’s economy.

In Brazil’s northeastern authorities of Bahia, a accepted stronghold for left-wing parties and candidates, 1 agrarian entrepreneur, in a backstage audio message reviewed by labour investigators, that helium ordered pistillate employees to movie their votes for Mr. Bolsonaro, adjacent by hiding their phones wrong their bras.

Otherwise, they would beryllium fired.

The entrepreneur, successful a plea woody with investigators, admitted to pressuring his workers to enactment a circumstantial campaigner and said that helium would ne'er terminate workers for governmental reasons. He besides agreed to wage a fine.

“I judge that overmuch is owed to the governmental polarization that occurs successful the country,” José de Lima Ramos Pereira, Brazil’s highest authoritative for labour issues, said astir the cases of worker intimidation. “Employers are uncovering it OK to bash thing that is illegal.”

In the confederate authorities of Rio Grande bash Sul, Stara, a workplace machinery manufacturer announced that it would slash 30 percent of its fund for 2023 should Mr. da Silva won. The company’s proprietor donated astir $186,000 successful Brazilian currency to right-wing campaigns, including Mr. Bolsonaro’s. A tribunal ordered the institution to abstain from pressuring their workers to ballot for Mr. Bolsonaro.

In São Miguel bash Guamá, a municipality successful bluish Brazil, wherever Mr. Lula won astir 64 percent of the ballot successful the archetypal round, Mauricio Fernandes Jr., the proprietor of a ceramic factory, offered his employees a astir $38 bonus each if they voted for Mr. Bolsonaro.

In a plea with investigators from the country’s Labor Prosecution Office, Mr. Fernandes agreed to wage a good and recorded a video apologizing to his workers.

“I did a large stupidity,” helium said.

Other than fines and fiscal compensation, concern operators recovered to person engaged successful governmental coercion of employees could besides look transgression charges.

“We person to banish this nonsense,” said Alexandre de Moraes, Brazil’s elections chief. “Moral harassment is simply a crime. As such, it volition beryllium fought.’’

— André Spigariol

As the contention betwixt Brazil’s right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro, and his leftist challenger, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, tightened, Mr. Bolsonaro and his allies intensified their courting of a voting bloc cardinal to his campaign: evangelical Christians.

In the days starring to Sunday’s runoff election, the state was awash successful harsh attacks against Mr. da Silva that were meant successful portion to sway evangelical voters, who marque up by immoderate estimates astir 30 percent of the colonisation and person go cardinal supporters of Mr. Bolsonaro.

The president apt needs this bloc, which tends to beryllium much blimpish than different spiritual groups successful Brazil, to ballot for him successful important numbers if helium is to triumph a 2nd term.

Mr. Bolsonaro won much than 60 percent of the evangelical ballot successful his archetypal run for the presidency successful 2018 and received a akin percent during the archetypal circular of voting successful this predetermination cycle.

Evangelicals are the lone spiritual radical that has wide governmental practice successful Congress, and they ballot arsenic a bloc connected definite blimpish topics.

Bolsonaro supporters successful caller weeks accused Mr. da Silva of being a Satanist who would adjacent churches if helium won and described him arsenic a protagonist of termination rights, the legalization of drugs and “gender ideology,” a question to re-examine the conception of gender.

Mr. Bolsonaro amplified immoderate of these claims. “When idiosyncratic is successful favour of abortion, arsenic Lula is successful favor, the feline turns connected the yellowish light,” the president said successful a caller interrogation connected a podcast, informing voters to beryllium wary of Mr. da Silva.

Mr. da Silva, who has said helium is opposed to termination rights and the legalization of drugs, precocious had to clarify that helium does not person a pact with the devil. (He has not fixed a presumption connected “gender ideology.”)

Mr. Bolsonaro has besides drawn the backing of evangelical pastors who person utilized their pulpits to unit their congregants to ballot for the president.

“The speeches wrong the churches accidental that this is not an election, but spiritual warfare,” said Vinicius bash Valle, a governmental idiosyncratic and the person of the Observatory of Evangelicals, an enactment studying their interaction connected Brazilian society.

Mr. da. Silva’s allies person fired backmost with their ain attacks connected Mr. Bolsonaro’s character, including trying to nexus him to freemasonry and questioning his intersexual morals by pointing to a video successful which helium suggests intersexual involvement successful teenage girls.

Mr. Bolsonaro has besides been accused of cannibalism due to the fact that of different video, a 2016 interrogation with The New York Times successful which helium talks of eating an Indigenous person.

Mr. da Silva, who has said that helium has “never utilized religion successful his campaign,” precocious met with evangelical leaders and called Mr. Bolsonaro a “compulsive liar.”

— Flávia Milhorance

As Brazilians formed ballots connected Sunday, they utilized the lone strategy successful the satellite to cod and number votes wholly digitally, without insubstantial backups.

Brazil’s afloat clasp of a integer strategy has been hailed by immoderate arsenic importantly simplifying the logistics of moving an predetermination successful a state of 217 cardinal radical that is astir the size of Europe, including immoderate of the astir distant places connected the planet.

But to others — including, astir prominently, President Jair Bolsonaro — the system’s plan is simply a large vulnerability: Without insubstantial backups for each vote, the president has argued, 1 tin ne'er beryllium definite that each person’s ballot is counted correctly.

Despite his claims, determination has been nary grounds of fraud successful the physics voting machines since Brazil began utilizing them successful 1996, according to autarkic experts, Brazil’s predetermination officials and overseas governments, including the United States.

Instead, the machines helped destruct the elector fraud that erstwhile plagued Brazil’s elections successful the property of insubstantial ballots.

Computer-security experts who survey the strategy accidental that the deficiency of insubstantial backups so makes it hard to audit an election. But they besides accidental that the strategy has galore layers of information to forestall fraud oregon errors.

• Officials trial hundreds of machines connected Election Day to guarantee they are signaling votes correctly.

• Each polling presumption posts ballot counts publicly, ensuring that they lucifer up with the nationalist tally.

• Outside experts inspect immoderate of the root codification of the machines’ software.

• Most voters usage their fingerprints to unlock the machines, portion others contiguous photograph recognition to canvass workers.

• And the machines are not connected to the internet, importantly reducing the chances of a hack.

The New York Times combed done hundreds of hours of Mr. Bolsonaro’s interviews, speeches and play livestreams and thousands of his social-media posts to representation his efforts implicit 8 years to knock oregon question the voting system.

The resulting representation showed that helium has built a communicative of fraudulent elections based connected inaccuracies, out-of-context reports, circumstantial evidence, conspiracy theories and downright falsehoods — overmuch similar erstwhile President Donald J. Trump.

His impervious has centered connected evident abnormalities successful the voting process and results, often presented without attribution, and helium has framed hypothetical scenarios of fraud arsenic acold much probable than they are.

Yet his claims person gained important traction with overmuch of the country. Three retired of 4 of Mr. Bolsonaro’s supporters present spot Brazil’s voting machines lone a small oregon not astatine all, according to polls.

Marcos Simplicio, a cybersecurity researcher astatine the University of São Paulo who besides studies Brazil’s voting systems, said that combating Mr. Bolsonaro’s claims has been hard partially due to the fact that immoderate are rooted successful truth, adjacent though they deficiency a afloat knowing of the strategy and truthful greatly exaggerate the hazard oregon simply get it wrong.

“Most of what is being said by Bolsonaro are half-truths,” Mr. Simplicio said. “But the method ground is not wholly bogus. And that’s the occupation sometimes.”

Laís Martins contributed reporting.