Far-right Bolsonaro wins first round Brazil vote

RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 08 (AFP): Polarising far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro easily won the first round of Brazil's presidential election on Sunday, but charged that "polling problems" cheated him of outright victory, forcing a run-off against a leftist rival in three weeks.

Bolsonaro, a 63-year-old former paratrooper vowing to crush crime in Latin America's biggest nation, received 46 per cent of ballots - below the 50-per cent-plus-one-vote threshold required for a first-round win, according to an official count of virtually all votes.

That means he will have to duke it out on October 28 with left-wing candidate Fernando Haddad, who came in second at 29 per cent.