Brazil’s Voters Face a Brutal Choice

In this Sunday’s presidential runoff, Brazilian voters will choose between reelecting incumbent Jair Bolsonaro or bringing back former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Neither man is the answer to the challenges facing Latin America’s largest democracy. Brazilians must at least hope for an outcome that doesn’t make things worse.

Though some polls had suggested Lula might prevail in the election’s first round on Oct. 2, Bolsonaro beat expectations by forcing a runoff, with his congressional and gubernatorial allies also performing well. The race has been tight enough that a contested result remains a possibility. Bolsonaro has previously cast doubts on the integrity of the country’s electoral system and has said he would accept the result “if voting is clean.” A prolonged post-election dispute would paralyze the economy, widen social divisions and undermine the incoming government from the start.