POLARIZING far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro easily won the first round of Brazil’s presidential election 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 percent of ballots — below the 50-percent-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 Oct. 28 with left-wing candidate Fernando Haddad, who came in second at 29 percent.

Haddad, the former mayor of Sao Paulo who replaced jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the contest, is seen as running neck-and-neck with Bolsonaro in the second round, surveys show.

Bolsonaro’s supporters protested the results outside the national electoral tribunal in the capital Brasilia, chanting “Fraud!”

Haddad, addressing his own supporters, called the looming run-off “a golden opportunity,” and challenged Bolsonaro to a debate.

Despite his complaints, Bolsonaro did not formally contest Sunday’s result, saying his voters “remain mobilized” for the second round.

But he faces fierce resistance going forward from a big part of Brazil’s 147-million-strong electorate, who are put off by his record of denigrating comments against women, gays and the poor.

His unabashed nostalgia for the brutal military dictatorship that ruled Brazil between 1964 and 1985 has sent a chill through many voters.

Haddad, though, has his own challenge. As the Workers’ Party candidate, he bears the palpable disappointment and anger of voters who blame the party for Brazil’s worst-ever recession, and for a long string of graft scandals. (SD-Agencies)