Brazil is headed for a runoff election. Results from the country's top electoral body show that former army captain Jair Bolsonaro gained around 46 percent of the votes in Sunday's first-round poll. Worker's Party candidate Fernando Haddad got around 28 percent. CGTN's Paulo Cabral has this report from Sao Paulo.

Voting was generally trouble free in Brazil's general elections. According to authorities, a few dozen people were arrested for electoral crimes, in most cases for things like canvassing votes around polling stations or offering to transport people to vote. But there were no serious incidents of violence reported - despite heightened tensions and a new level of polarization seen in this election.

THIAGO DIAS POST-GRADUATE STUDENT "I am afraid of what the candidacy of Bolsonaro represents and of what is going to happen in the runoff. I am afraid of the ideas that Bolsonaro brings to the table and of his extremism."

STEFANIE ALMEIDA HOMEMAKER "I believe all parties will band together around Haddad's Workers Party for the second round. But I trust Bolsonaro will win, even if it's tight."

ARNALDO ROCHA ENTREPRENEUR "Between Bolsonaro and Haddad I will vote blank."

We found many Brazilians actually voting against candidates - sometimes not choosing their favorite but instead calculating their vote to, above all else, avoid the victory of someone else. This strategy made it particularly difficult to predict the winners with any certainty until the end.

JAIR BOLSONARO BRAZILIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE "Brazil can't continue on this path of socialism. We can't become tomorrow what Venezuela is today."

And the exit polls show he'll face off against Workers' Party candidate Fernando Haddad, running in place of former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, jailed on corruption charges and barred from the race.

FERNANDO HADDAD BRAZILIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE "The important thing now is that we will have a runoff. And this is always an opportunity to renew everything. It's a moment when people can really look into the proposals and make a choice."

PAULO CABRAL SAO PAULO "The former army captain is a controversial figure who at the beginning of the race was given little to no chance of winning. But he capitalized on growing political polarization in Brazil and a backlash against the Workers' Party - entangled in corruption cases - to take the lead. Now he and his opponent Fernando Haddad face the difficult task - of winning runoff votes - from Brazilians who've made clear they dislike both candidates. Paulo Cabral, CGTN, Sao Paulo."