简体中文
A runoff is expected to take place between Brazil's incumbent President Dilma Rousseff and her rival Aecio Neves on Oct. 26.
Rousseff topped the first round with 41.5 percent of votes, against 33.5 percent by senator Aecio Neves.
Socialist party opposition candidate Marina Silva, who had occupied the second place in pre-election polls, trailed in the third place with 21.3 percent of the votes.
As Brazil's first woman president, Rousseff has forged a balanced government that promotes business and manufacture sectors, as well as social policies that have lifted thousands out of poverty.
This has won her government high marks and explains her wide appeal.
Rousseff made a statement after the results were released, celebrating the good performance in the first round. She thanked her running mate Michel Temer and all her supporters.
"Once more, the Brazilian people honored me with their trust by giving me the victory in this first round election," she said. "We have the duty to thank the electors who left their homes to vote."
Rousseff also expressed gratitude for her political mentor, Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
"Without President Lula, I would not have fulfilled my dream to transform Brazil into a better place. The fight continues, a fight which will be victorious because it is the fight of the Brazilian people," she said.
Pro-business rival Neves made an unexpected rise, benefiting from Brazil's long economic slump.
Just a week before the elections, Neves, who hoped to bring the Social Democracy Party back to power after 12 years in the opposition, appeared to have little chance of getting enough votes to enter the runoff.
Neves expressed confidence for a final win in the runoff in a statement in his hometown Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais state after results for the first round came out.
"We believe this is possible and will always be," he said. "All those who can make a contribution are welcome. We want to make an honored, dignified government."
As Silva has fallen out of the race, the choice of her supporters becomes vital for the final scenario.
Neves had called on Silva's Socialist party to ally with his Social Democrats immediately after the first round ended.
As a two-term governor of Minas Gerais, one of Brazil's largest and most populous states, Neves gained credits in putting the state's finances in order and cutting down its debts.
Neves has blamed Rousseff's interventionist policies, saying it has harmed an economic upturn. He is proposing free trade and tighter government spending.
