Defying preelection polls, a divided Brazil heads to a presidential runoff

A day after an inconclusive presidential election, Brazil is now bracing for a frantic four-week campaign ahead of a runoff vote that will pit leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva against Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right incumbent president.

Official returns from Sunday's first round showed da Silva, a former two-term president universally known as Lula, with 48.4% compared to 43.2% for Bolsonaro. The remaining votes went to nine other candidates.

Da Silva needed to get more than half of the votes to avoid a head-to-head matchup against Bolsonaro, who proved far stronger than public opinion polls had predicted. The two are now slated to meet in an Oct. 30 runoff.

"It seems that fate wants me to work a little harder," da Silva told thousands of supporters at a post-election rally in downtown São Paulo Sunday night. But he added that victory is "just a matter of time. ... We will win because Brazil needs us."