Updated 05:09 a.m. Moscow time.
MOSCOW, October 6 (RIA Novosti) - Incumbent president Dilma Rousseff and Social Democracy Party candidate Aecio Neves have received 41,39 and 33,78 percent of the votes respectively, as 98 percent of votes in Brazil's presidential elections have been counted, the country's Superior Electoral Court informed.
Rousseff, who represents the Worker’s Pary, and Neves are to face each other in the second round of elections on October 26.
Rousseff and Neves are followed by Socialist Party candidate Marina Silva, who has received 21,26 percent of the votes, while the other candidates have received less than 2 percent of votes each.
The voting in Brazil’s general elections finished at 17:00 local time (20.00 GMT), though voting time was extended in some areas due to technical problems with the voting machines.
During Sunday’s general elections, Brazilians also voted for National Congress members, state governors and state legislatures. Some 400,000 police officers and members of the armed forces were responsible for providing security during the elections.
Voting is mandatory for Brazilians aged 18 to 70, and optional for those as young as 16 or over 70. Over 530,000 voting devices were dispatched to reach all regions of the large country.
The polls closed at 17.00 local time (20.00 GMT), though the voting time was extended in some areas due to problems with the biometric voting machines.
Except for some technical issues, no major incidents were registered during this year’s elections. Some 248 people were detained for various violations, including 22 who attempted to bribe voters. Taken into account the total number of registered voters in Brazil (142,8 million), the elections can be described as “calm”, the country’s electoral authorities stated.
In the 2010 elections, Rousseff received some 47 percent of the votes in the first round and proceeded to win the second round with 56 percent. She assumed her position as Brazil’s president on January 1, 2011, becoming the first woman to hold the office.
