'Change could be worse' - Bolsonaro on Brazil vote

STORY: With 99.7% of electronic votes counted, Lula was ahead with 48.4% of votes versus 43.3% for Bolsonaro, the national electoral authority reported. As neither got a majority of support, the race will go to a second-round vote on October 30.

Several opinion surveys had shown Lula leading Bolsonaro by 10-15 percentage points ahead of Sunday's (October 2) vote. The much tighter result dashed expectations of a quick resolution to a deeply polarised election in the world's fourth-largest democracy.

Bolsonaro had questioned polls that showed him losing to Lula in the first round, saying they did not capture enthusiasm he saw on the campaign trail.

He has also attacked the integrity of Brazil's electronic voting system without evidence, and suggested he might not concede if he lost.