Brazilians living outside the country voted on Sunday, 25 October, in the second round of Brazil's 2026 presidential election, choosing between incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the PT and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro of the PL. O POVO carried live coverage of the day's voting at consulates and polling stations abroad, including the queues and the day's main stories.
The outlet reported heavy turnout in several major cities. In Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital, Brazilian voters formed long lines throughout the day. Paris also saw large crowds at polling stations, where roughly 28,000 Brazilians are registered to vote, according to O POVO. Miami, in the United States, drew lengthy queues as well, with voting there scheduled to close at 7 p.m. Brasília time.
O POVO's coverage was distributed across its television channel, YouTube, its CBN radio station and social media platforms.
Why it matters
The overseas electorate is small next to Brazil's domestic voting population, but it draws outsized attention because results from foreign polling stations often arrive early in the count and set the tone for the night. The diaspora vote also reflects how deeply the country's political divide extends beyond its borders, with communities in Europe, South America and North America turning out in force.
Sunday's race is a rematch of sorts. In the first round, Lula led among Brazilians abroad with 47.57% of valid votes, while Flávio Bolsonaro took 43.49%, a share O POVO put at 143,900 votes. Those figures left the overseas contest close enough that both campaigns were watching foreign results closely as polls closed across different time zones.
Early results split between Africa and Europe
The first overseas results released on Sunday showed the two candidates dividing the map. According to O POVO, Flávio Bolsonaro won in South Africa and Mozambique, the first African countries to report results favorable to him. In South Africa he took 256 votes, or 57.92%, against 186 for Lula, or 42.08%. In Mozambique, the PL candidate received 117 votes, or 52%, while Lula got 108, or 48%.
O POVO noted that the outcome mirrored the 2022 runoff, when Jair Bolsonaro, Flávio's father and the former president, also defeated Lula in both countries. In that contest, Jair Bolsonaro received 269 votes in South Africa, or 59.51%, against 183 for Lula, and 166 votes in Mozambique, or 54.25%, against 140 for the PT candidate. Flávio Bolsonaro had also finished ahead of Lula in both countries in this year's first round.
Europe produced a mixed picture in the earliest returns. O POVO reported that Lula won in Finland, Estonia and Cyprus, while Flávio Bolsonaro was leading in other countries whose results had begun to be released.
A family presence in Miami
In Miami, Eduardo Bolsonaro, Flávio's brother, was seen arriving at a polling place early in the afternoon, according to O POVO. The former congressman has been in the United States since 2025 and was convicted by Brazil's Supreme Court (STF) for coercion in the course of proceedings involving his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro.
His appearance drew attention because of the family's prominence in the race and because Florida is home to one of the larger Brazilian communities in the United States.
Domestic turnout also in focus
Coverage of the runoff extended beyond the diaspora. CNN Brasil reported that Elmano de Freitas, the governor of Ceará, voted on Sunday. Contexto Notícias reported that Ceará has nearly 7 million voters eligible to cast ballots in the second round, and Jovem Pan published a breakdown of how the state voted for president in the first round. G1 carried live coverage that included a 100-year-old woman voting in the runoff after missing the first round.
The second round follows a first-round vote in which neither candidate crossed the threshold needed to win outright, sending the contest to Sunday's deciding ballot.
What to watch
Results from overseas polling stations will continue to arrive through the evening as voting closes in different time zones, with the count in Brazil expected to follow once domestic polls shut. O POVO said it would keep updating its live coverage across television, radio and social media as the night develops.
