No matter what, 2018 election will be controversial

Brazil will head to the polls on October 7 in what is set to be the most polarizing presidential race in living memory. While the final ballot is beginning to take shape, there is still a question mark over the candidacy of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers’ Party), who may be ineligible to run after his impending appeals court decision on charges of corruption. The imbroglio surrounding Lula guarantees that however the 2018 election turns out, both sides will feel they have reason to call foul play.

As the polls stand, Brazil is largely divided between Lula (polling at between 34 and 37 percent) and far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro, who lies in second place with between 17 and 19 percent. Centrist and moderate right-wing voters are currently splintered, with their intentions shared out among a handful of as-of-yet unlikely contenders.

While the race between the two front-runners has been billed as one of two extremes, the polarization between them is rather asymmetrical. On the one hand, Jair Bolsonaro (of the poorly named Social Liberal Party, PSL)...