The first-round vote ended with a margin much slimmer than expected between the main candidates, President Jair Bolsonaro and former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

"[Bolsonaro] clearly outperformed, and that’s a big surprise," said AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth to Al Jazeera.

"Expect an ugly race that will leave scars," said AS/COA's Brian Winter to the Associated Press.

"Ainda acredito que uma vitória de Lula parece provável, mas inevitável? De jeito nenhum", diz Brian Winter da AS/COA à BBC News.

Hear the recording of the conversation moderated by AS/COA's Luisa Leme on the October 2 elections. 

"The institutions of democracy have been questioned in this election cycle," said the AS/COA vice president.

See how competition between presidential hopefuls is shaping up ahead of the October 2 first-round vote.