// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Polls close in Brazil as Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro remain neck and neck
About 160 million people are eligible to vote in Brazil's general election today
Polls have closed in Brazil's general election, after voters queued in long lines for a tight first round of the presidential race.
After casting his ballot, 80-year-old left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva warned that the choice was between democracy and "barbarism".
His challenger, right-winger Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, said he wanted to "free the Brazilian people".
The result is forecast to be close. BBC Brazil's poll aggregator shows that the gap between Lula and Bolsonaro is only two points. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, the election will go to a run-off on 25 October.
According to Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE), more than 158.7 million Brazilians, including one million people abroad, are eligible to vote in the election.
Lula is challenged by 11 candidates, although BBC Brazil's poll aggregator suggests that candidates other than Lula and Bolsonaro will get only about 10% of the vote.
The TSE has not set a fixed time for the release of the official results, but they are expected within hours because voting is electronic and in previous elections results have tended to come quickly.
A victory for Bolsonaro would extend a wave of wins across Latin America by right-wing candidates aligned with US President Donald Trump, while Lula's re-election would create problems for Washington, which has clashed with his government over trade and security.
A woman votes at a polling station during Brazil's general election in Barra de Guaratiba, Rio de Janeiro