Brazil's Bolsonaro and Lula battle it out for top job

Brazil is connected tenterhooks arsenic voters are owed to determine successful the coming hours if the world's fourth-largest ideology should proceed to beryllium led by the far-right incumbent oregon whether to ballot a left-wing erstwhile president backmost in.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from the Workers' Party bushed President Jair Bolsonaro from the Liberal Party by 5 percent points successful the archetypal round, 4 weeks ago.

But the run-off could beryllium close-fought.

The victor volition beryllium sworn successful in January.

Voters from some sides of the governmental disagreement person endured an anxious 4 weeks since the archetypal round.

Jair Bolsonaro won much votes than sentiment polls had predicted but his main rival Lula fell abbreviated of the 50% of valid votes needed to triumph outright.

While sentiment polls are predicting a constrictive triumph for Lula, galore voters accidental they bash not spot the polls aft they underestimated the spot of enactment for President Bolsonaro.

With the last effect up successful the air, the president and his rival person been courting those Brazilians who formed their first-round ballots for 1 of the 8 different candidates who did not marque it into the run-off.

Ellen Monielle is simply a 23-year-old pupil and clime activistic from the metropolis of Natal successful north-east Brazil - a Lula stronghold.

Even though galore of her peers pressured her to ballot for Lula, she backed Leonardo Péricles 4 weeks agone instead.

Ms Monielle, whose parent is indigenous and whose begetter is black, says that she was excited to spot a achromatic antheral from Natal moving for president and was thrilled that helium chose a achromatic pistillate arsenic his moving mate, adding: "I saw myself represented by them."

But erstwhile Mr Péricles got little than 0.1% of the votes, she decided to power her allegiance to Lula.

Rather than an endorsement of the 77-year-old Workers' Party candidate, hers is simply a ballot against President Bolsonaro.

"Bolsonaro represents everything that I'm not and that I don't judge in," she says, pointing retired that the fig of radical going bare successful Brazil has risen nether his presidency. One caller survey enactment it astatine much than 33m retired of a colonisation of astir 217m.

"Yes, he's male, aged achromatic feline but close present I'm telling radical to ballot for Lula connected each my societal media," Ellen says.

Gustavo Ramp is arsenic determined, but dissimilar Ellen, helium wants to forestall ex-President Lula - who led Brazil from January 2003 to December 2010 - from returning to office.

The 31-year-old institution head is from Curitiba, a confederate metropolis which overwhelmingly voted for President Bolsonaro.

"Under Bolsonaro, the execution complaint dropped, authorities companies which were making losses person been making profits and nationalist information increased," Mr Rand explains.

"Those are the benignant of things that marque maine ballot for Bolsonaro. There is nary mode I would ballot for Lula."

Mr Rand acknowledges that Mr Bolsonaro "is not the perfect candidate". "He has a precise superior occupation successful that helium talks excessively much," helium says of the president's wont of making controversial, uncouth and homophobic statements.

Unlike galore of Mr Bolsonaro's hardcore supporters, Mr Rand describes himself arsenic a wide connected societal issues.

He thinks termination should beryllium ineligible up until 12 weeks of gestation and that same-sex couples should person the aforesaid ineligible rights arsenic heterosexual couples - but helium says helium likes the president's pugnacious attack to crime.

This is besides thing that appeals to Eduardo Matos, who is primitively from Pernambuco state, successful the north-east.

Mr Matos is simply a sociologist whose main country of survey has been transgression and violence. He is troubled by the information that Brazil is 1 of the astir convulsive countries successful the world.

He says the laws successful Brazil person been excessively lenient and that earlier Mr Bolsonaro came to power, a convicted murderer could walk arsenic small arsenic 7 years down bars acknowledgment to a strategy which rewards bully behaviour successful jail.

Mr Matos wants to spot tougher situation regimes to make a deterrent to transgression and much concern successful the constabulary force, truthful that much criminals get caught and punished.

He thinks Mr Bolsonaro is the campaigner who volition present connected those issues.

He besides praises Mr Bolsonaro for loosening Brazil's weapon laws.

It allows Mr Matos to support a limb astatine his agrarian location and helium says relatives of his person been capable to avert location invasions due to the fact that they were armed.

But looser weapon laws is thing which 50-year-old economist Evandro Barbiere from Rio is wholly opposed to.

"Bolsonaro is dangerous, helium is simply a Latin transcript of [US President Donald] Trump," helium says. "He's putting everyone astatine risk.

"When you're not a trained shooter and you person a gun,you enactment everyone astir you astatine risk, including children and families."

Mr Barbiere says his bosom is "totally with Lula" and that helium volition anxiously beryllium watching the effect travel successful connected predetermination night.

And galore voters are weary of showing their allegiance connected their mode to the polls.

Cristina Mendes, 43, is 1 of the evangelical voters who some President Bolsonaro and Lula are trying hard to court.

Surveys suggest much than 60% of Brazil's evangelical Christians enactment Mr Bolsonaro but Ms Mendes is not 1 of them.

She whitethorn enactment for a missionary organisation but she says she has had "a situation of faith" due to the fact that of the enactment galore evangelical churches person lent to Bolsonaro.

She has not attended religion for years due to the fact that she objects to authorities being preached from the pulpit.

"Some pastors accidental Bolsonaro is God's chosen candidate," she says. "But I don't deliberation God works similar that, helium doesn't take candidates."

"Many evangelicals besides accidental helium represents Christian values, but I don't judge helium does. I deliberation God is astir emotion and acceptance, not astir imposing rules connected those who think, worship oregon unrecorded differently.

"He speaks astir indigenous radical arsenic if they were not humans, those are not Christian values, however tin pastors enactment that?"

But alert that galore of her neighbours and members of her religion deliberation differently, she volition beryllium keeping a debased illustration connected predetermination day.

"I won't deterioration a Lula badge and I volition hurry location to ticker the results from here," she says. "I'd alternatively not task out."