00:00With only two days left until the first round of Brazil's general election, which will be held on October 4th,
00:04the country is preparing for one of the most decisive moments in its political history.
00:09To learn more about this topic and see what will happen if the country can't decide on a new leader
00:14that day,
00:14let's welcome our correspondent live from Sao Paulo, Brian Meir. Welcome, Brian, to From the South.
00:21Hi, thanks for having me on.
00:23Well, as you mentioned, we're two days until the first round of Brazil's presidential election.
00:28Brazil is the third largest electoral democracy in the world, with 158 million registered voters,
00:36most of whom are going to the polling centers on Sunday, the Sunday, because voting is mandatory in Brazil.
00:44If you can't make it, you have to put out paperwork justifying why you couldn't do your vote,
00:49which is a hassle for a lot of people, so it's a strong pressure for everyone to come out and
00:53vote,
00:53and also the fact that both leading candidates have such different visions about Brazil's development model,
01:00the use of its natural resources, and its place in the international scenario,
01:05this is expected to drive participation up very highly this Sunday.
01:10Now, Brazil has a very strict electoral court system, which tightly regulates election season,
01:17and there's a lot of different rules.
01:19Yesterday was the last day that candidates could run television commercials,
01:24and it was also the last day that television networks could hold debates.
01:29Global, the largest TV network in Brazil, had a debate scheduled after Lula said he didn't want to participate in
01:36it
01:36because it was going to be him, Flavio Bolsonaro, and a bunch of people who thought it was going to
01:45be an ambush,
01:45so he stepped out from it.
01:50Global decided they were going to put an empty chair on the television screen,
01:54and the electoral courts canceled the entire debate.
01:56So Lula ended up going on the Flow podcast, as you mentioned,
02:00and today is the last day that newspaper ads can run,
02:04and it's the last day that these ads can be reproduced on the internet.
02:10The other thing that happens today is that army personnel have to station themselves
02:15within 100 meters of every voting center across the country of Brazil.
02:21So tomorrow is going to be the last day for parades and campaign events,
02:25and people are gearing up for the final push before Sunday's election.
02:32If no candidate manages to get over 50%,
02:35this will mean a second round will take place between the two leading candidates on October 28th,
02:40but both Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro are saying they think they can win it in the first round.
02:46Thank you, Ryan, for the information on what we can expect today and tomorrow
02:50in the context of the final moments before the electoral day on Sunday.
