Brazil’s presidential vote will go to second round, but what are the possibilities of a contested election?
There are two big uncertainties following the first round of voting:
Who will become the fourth president of the country.
Whether Brazil will have a second round to decide.
Who has the right to choose
There are three possibilities of a second round of voting:
The electoral committee decides to have a second round, but Congress (and the presidential office) votes against it.
Congress (and the presidential office) votes against it. The electoral committee decides to cancel the second round and start a new one.
The electoral committee decides to cancel the second round and start a new one. A runoff takes place between the two candidates from the first round who got more than 50% of the vote.
If a runoff takes place, the second round will be between the top two vote-getters from the first round (not necessarily the two people who got the most votes). The two candidates who did not get more than 50% of the total votes are not excluded from the run-off, and the second round will be a head to head between them. The first round will be between the two candidates who got more than 50% of the vote in the first round.
So far, the first two possibilities have been confirmed. With the first one, the second round will be decided on the basis of the votes of Congress and of the presidential candidate. With the second, the second round will be between the top two candidates from the first round.
Who will be the fourth president of the country
The first of the two possibilities above, the choice of Congress, was confirmed at the end of last week. Following that will be the choice of the candidates themselves.
It will probably be a complicated scenario involving a coalition government.
According to the same sources, it will be one of the last chances to see a presidential candidacy led by a center-right president.
But that leaves open the other big question: Will there be a second round to decide?
If there is another round, there are two possibilities: a run-off between the top two candidates
