Politics · Brazil · 5 hrs ago
Renan Santos says he will not vote in Brazil's presidential runoff
Former presidential candidate Renan Santos says he will not vote in Sunday's second-round election in Brazil.
The contest is between President Lula and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro.
Santos, who ran for the Missão party and leads the Free Brazil Movement, has endorsed neither candidate and says he will not tell his supporters whom to choose.
He finished fourth in the first round, with 2.24% of valid votes.
Santos plans to spend the weekend with his family in Vinhedo, in São Paulo state, and says he will justify his absence to electoral authorities.
His decision comes as Lula and Bolsonaro seek support from voters who backed other candidates in the first round.
Former presidential candidate Renan Santos says he will not vote in Brazil’s presidential runoff on Sunday.
His office confirmed to Folha that he will spend the weekend with his family in Vinhedo, São Paulo state, and is expected to justify his absence to electoral authorities.
Santos has not endorsed either incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva or Senator Flávio Bolsonaro.
He placed fourth in the first round, with 2.24% of valid votes.
- Who
- Renan Santos, a former presidential candidate for the Missão party.
- What
- He will not vote in the presidential runoff and has not endorsed either candidate.
- When
- Sunday, October 25, 2026.
- Where
- The runoff is in Brazil; Santos will spend the weekend in Vinhedo, in São Paulo state.
- Why
- He plans to spend the weekend with his family and is expected to justify his absence to electoral authorities.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
At a Missão event in São Paulo, Santos called Lula and Flávio “scoundrels” and said they should go “into the dustbin of history.
At an event in São Paulo, Santos criticized Lula and Flávio, describing them as risks of authoritarian left-wing government and a corrupt oligarchy.
Santos placed fourth in the first round, receiving 2.24% of valid votes.
Santos’s office confirmed to Folha that he would not vote in the runoff.
The runoff between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro is scheduled to take place.
- Party
- Missão
- First-round result
- Fourth place, with 2.24% of valid votes
- Runoff candidates
- Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro
- Planned weekend location
- Vinhedo, São Paulo state
- Runoff date
- October 25, 2026
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What people are saying
I don’t vote for criminals. I don’t recommend that anyone vote for criminals. Flávio is a criminal. Lula is a criminal.
I hate the PT. I would never vote for Lula.
This is just a curtain.