With more than 48% of the vote, leftist former president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva didn't earn enough votes to secure a win over current far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who clinched more than 43% of the vote. Bolsonaro sewed the seeds of mistrust in the electoral system throughout his campaign, leading to some concerns of a January 6th style insurrection should he lose. 

The country, split on issues like traditional and religious values, LGBTQ and Indigenous rights, economic and environmental policy and the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic will elections-runoff-bolsonaro-lula.html">vote again in a runoff election on October 30th. Freelance journalist in Brazil, Ana Ionova discusses the election's outcome and what the next steps mean for Brazil.