Brazil's presidential election is going to a runoff on October 25 after Senator Flávio Bolsonaro finished ahead of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the first round on Sunday, October 4.

Bolsonaro, 45, the son of imprisoned former President Jair Bolsonaro, won about 47% of the vote and some 56 million ballots. Lula took about 45%. Neither reached the majority needed to win outright.

The result defied opinion polls, which had shown Lula narrowly ahead until the eve of the vote.

“I admit I was convinced I would win in the first round,” Lula said. “The game is about to start. In extra time, we will win over the Brazilian people.” Bolsonaro said he was “truly happy with the result” and spoke of a “very real possibility” of winning the runoff.

The right also made large gains in Congress. Former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro and Carlos Bolsonaro, another of the former president's sons, won Senate seats, and his youngest son, Jair Renan Bolsonaro, 28, was elected a federal deputy.

The campaign was dominated by crime, corruption and the cost of living. Since Brazil's return to democracy in 1985, the candidate who led the first round has gone on to win every presidential election.

Brazil matters to Haitians. Tens of thousands of Haitians settled there after the 2010 earthquake, and the country has long been a first stop on the migration route north.