BRASILIA – Brazil's presidential election will head to a runoff on Oct 25 after no candidate secured a majority of valid votes in the first round, official results showed Sunday.

According to results released by the Superior Electoral Court, with over 99 percent of the ballots counted, Flavio Bolsonaro, presidential candidate of Brazil's Liberal Party, garnered about 47 percent of valid votes. Incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party came in second with about 45 percent. 

Voting in the first round of Brazil's presidential election officially began at 8 am on Sunday and closed at 5 pm (0800 GMT).

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Recent opinion polls had shown Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro leading the race with a significant advantage over other candidates.