Polls in Brazil closed at 5:00 p.m. local time (2000 GMT) on Sunday as the country held its breath in anticipation of a winner: far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro or former left-wing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who polls see as the favorite, AFP reported. .

The dispute overshadowed a day that passed without serious incident.

The head of the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE), Alexandre de Moraes, announced the removal of filtering barriers by the Federal Traffic Police (PRF), which “delayed the arrival of voters” at the polling stations, which caused discontent on the left.

Leaders of Lula’s Workers’ Party have previously posted several videos on social media showing buses transporting voters to polling stations, particularly in the rural northeast, an electoral stronghold of the former leftist president (2003-2010), who said “what is happening is unacceptable.” “.

However, de Moraes told a press conference that despite the delays, “no coach returned and all voters were able to vote”.

President Bolsonaro, 67, who was one of the first to vote immediately after polling stations opened in Rio de Janeiro, is awaiting results in the capital.

At least 200 people began to gather in central Brasilia, on the Esplanade of Ministries, after the chambers closed, AFP said.

Wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Brazil” in the yellow and green colors of the national flag beloved by his supporters, Bolsonaro earlier appeared with the Flamengo soccer team, which won Ecuador’s Copa Libertadores, the equivalent of the Champions League, on Saturday.

Lula, 77, would await the results in Sao Paulo, where celebrations were planned if he won. Wearing a long-sleeved white shirt, he said he was “confident in the victory of democracy” after voting in São Bernardo do Campo, the southeastern city where he made his debut as a union leader.

Lula says he wants to “restore peace among Brazilians” after an ultra-polarizing campaign that has split the country in two.