Brazilians are voting Sunday in a pivotal presidential election dominated by incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his ideological opposite, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro.

Preelection polls suggested both have a chance of winning outright, but if neither gets a majority of the vote, a runoff will be held on Oct. 25.

Nearly 159 million Brazilians are eligible to vote in Latin America’s largest economy. Bolsonaro is an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump and the son of ex-leader Jair Bolsonaro, whom Lula defeated four years ago.

Here's the latest:

Public security among voters’ top concerns in the election

Many are casting their ballots under the shadow of rising crime. Fears are most acute in Bahia, the country’s most violent state, a stronghold for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

They are also high in Rio de Janeiro, Flávio Bolsonaro’s home state, where entrenched criminal factions and urban warfare have plagued communities for decades. Voters head to the polls demanding decisive federal action in the near future.

Lula urges voters over 70 to cast ballots

Brazil’s incumbent president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, voted after 9 a.m. in a school in Sao Bernardo do Campo, outside Sao Paulo.

The 80-year-old Lula said that he was confident that he could get his first outright victory in seven runs for the presidency. He also urged Brazilians above age 70, who aren’t legally required to vote, to show up and cast their ballots.

Wearing a hat to protect his head after a skin cancer diagnosis, Lula told journalists that he needs “to do double what we have done” if reelected and also said that “Brazil will not go forward by making arms sales easier,” in reference to a long-standing pledge of his main opponent, Flávio Bolsonaro.

Voter highlights the issue of crime in Brazil

Rosane Wink, 67, a retired engineer with German origins who voted in the same school as Flávio Bolsonaro, is a lifelong conservative voter who supports the former president’s son and his promise to classify criminal groups as terrorist organizations.

“It’s a kind of terrorism that they’re doing with us,” said Wink, who was wearing a T-shirt with Brazil’s national colors.

Last month, a robber held a gun to her stomach and then bit her hand and removed her wedding ring, she said.

“We’re not going to succeed in putting an end to crime, but we have to find a way to diminish it.”

Brazil’s patron saint has become a surprise election issue

Brazil's patron saint is Our Lady of Aparecida.

A comment on Jesus by Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro recently went viral, triggering fears among many Catholics that he might intend to remove the patron saint status of Our Lady of Aparecida — a claim Bolsonaro has denied.

In an Aug. 23 video, Bolsonaro said that he would “declare that Brazil belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ.” Some Catholics interpreted that as meaning that the presidential candidate would remove Our Lady of Aparecida as Brazil’s patron saint.

Our Lady of Aparecida is a much-beloved figure among Brazilians. The accusation tapped into Catholics’ fears over losing ground to Evangelicals and could weaken the presidential bid of Bolsonaro, who is Evangelical.

Bolsonaro has no authority to name or remove patron saints. That’s entirely up to the Vatican.

Bolsonaro casts his vote

Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro has voted in his home state of Rio de Janeiro.

“Brazil needs change, Brazil can’t stand so much suffering,” said Bolsonaro, who arrived at around 8:10 a.m. local time to vote in a school.

He was dressed in a light yellow shirt featuring a “22” sticker, corresponding to the number that Brazilians must punch in to electronic voting machines if voting for him.

“I am more than prepared to preside this country to give back to Brazilians the right to dream,” he told journalists.

Brazilian sovereignty takes center stage

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government sees a series of recent U.S. measures — including tariffs and the decision to classify Brazil’s biggest drug-trafficking groups as foreign terrorist organizations — as attempts to tip the scale in Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro’s favor, an accusation that the Trump administration has denied.

A victory by Bolsonaro would mean Brazil would join Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Peru in electing Trump-friendly governments in recent years.

Lula has made Brazil’s sovereignty a major campaign issue. In the days before the election, his team launched a Portuguese version of the Bad Bunny song, “Lo que le paso a Hawaii,” that uses the U.S. colonization of Hawaii as a cautionary tale.

Brazilians use electronic voting machines to vote

Brazilian voters prepare number-heavy lists to remember their candidates’ numbers and at the ballot box, punch in the corresponding digits. Brazilian authorities adopted electronic voting machines in the 1990s to tackle longstanding fraud.

In earlier elections, ballot boxes were stuffed or stolen, and individual votes were routinely falsified, according to Brazil’s electoral authority. Now, results are reported mere hours after polls close.

In the lead-up to the 2022 vote, Jair Bolsonaro repeatedly cast unfounded doubts on Brazil’s electronic voting system. No significant fraud has ever been detected.

Political longevity takes center stage

Alongside regional heavyweights like U.S. President Donald Trump and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, 80-year-old Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stands among the oldest leaders in the Americas.

If Lula achieves an outright victory against 45-year-old Flávio Bolsonaro, he will cement a historic milestone, becoming the oldest man ever elected to lead the South American nation.

He says he wants to live to be 120. He tried to ease concerns by posting workout videos to attempt to convince voters that age is just a number.

Voting is underway in Brazil

Voting has started in Brazil's high-stakes presidential election, pitting the two main candidates, incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his ideological opposite, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, against each other.

Almost 159 million Brazilians are eligible to vote in this tense political showdown.

Brazilians will also elect 27 state governors, members of state legislatures, all 513 federal members of the lower house of congress and 54 of the country’s 81 senators in Sunday’s vote.