A closing sprint of measures

In the days before the runoff, Lula's administration rolled out a series of measures that put money and convenience in front of voters. The flagship welfare program received a direct boost, and several pockets of the electorate were targeted with relief of one kind or another.

• •Payments through the flagship Bolsa Familia program were increased by 15 percent, and Lula pledged to share benefits from extracting Brazil's rare minerals and other resources.
• •Fuel taxes were cut, easing costs at the pump ahead of the vote.
• •The government pardoned the debts that 3.6 million small businesses owed it.
• •The administration moved to block cellphone signals around prisons, a measure aimed at criminal groups operating from behind bars.
• •Higher welfare payments to university students were proposed.

Taken together, the package covers welfare recipients, drivers, small business owners, students and families of prisoners - a broad spread across the electorate heading into a race that surveys show remains tight.

Senate approves shorter workweek days before the vote

The most consequential measure came from Congress. Days before the vote, Brazil's Senate approved rules backed by Lula's administration to cut the maximum workweek from 44 to 40 hours, while enshrining two rest days without a salary cut.

The change was approved with the runoff looming, giving Lula a tangible legislative win to point to in the final stretch of the campaign.

The incumbent's standing

Lula, 80, is one of the world's oldest heads of state and Brazil's 35th and 39th president, serving again since 2023. His personal history is central to his appeal: he began as a union worker and lost a pinky finger in a factory accident at 19, a story that inspired devotion during his first and second terms.

His path has not been without setbacks. He later spent more than a year in prison on corruption convictions that were eventually annulled before he won a third term in 2022. This term, his approval ratings have fallen as low as 24 percent as voters raise concerns about crime and the cost of living - the very worries his pre-runoff measures appear designed to address.

Why the runoff is tight

The runoff was triggered because neither candidate won an absolute majority in the first round held earlier this month. Senator Bolsonaro came out ahead, taking 47 percent of the votes to Lula's 45 percent - a lead of more than 2.2 million votes - and surveys show the race remains tight heading into Sunday.

His challenger, 45, entered politics at 21, when he became Rio's youngest elected state lawmaker, and is seeking to return his family name to power while his father serves time for attempting a coup against the end of his 2019-2022 presidency.

Against that standing, Lula's late run of measures - the shorter workweek, the Bolsa Familia increase, the fuel tax cuts and the debt pardons for 3.6 million small businesses - forms the closing argument of his campaign.

Voting in Brazil is mandatory, and almost 160 million Brazilians are called to the polls. Brazilians cast ballots using electronic voting machines, punching in digits that correspond to their candidates, and results are reported within hours after polls close.