Brazil's Lula, Flavio Bolsonaro head to presidential runoff

BRASILIA - Brazil will hold a presidential runoff on Oct 25 as official results showed Sunday that no candidate secured a majority of valid votes in the first round.

According to results released by the Superior Electoral Court, with over 99 percent of the ballots counted, Flavio Bolsonaro, presidential candidate of Brazil's Liberal Party, garnered about 47 percent of valid votes while incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party came in second with about 45 percent.

Under Brazil's electoral rules, a presidential candidate must secure more than half of the valid votes to win outright in the first round. Otherwise, the two candidates with the most votes advance to a runoff.

Following the announcement of the first-round results, both candidates made remarks on Sunday night.

Bolsonaro said at a press conference in Brasilia that he was satisfied with the election result and hoped to have the opportunity to serve Brazil and its people.

"Brazil wants change. I just need a mandate to put Brazilians at the center of my government, to tackle and solve Brazil's real problems," he said.

Speaking in Sao Paulo, Lula acknowledged that he had expected to win in the first round but described the result as a lesson from voters.

He pledged to campaign on economic development and social inclusion, and urged those who abstained in the first round to vote in the runoff.

"We have a second round, and it's time for the test, time to show the true picture of Brazil," Lula said.