Brazil election result: Meet the voters

Dilma Rousseff, of the Workers Party (PT), has been re-elected president of Brazil, after securing more than 51% of votes in the closest election race in many years.

An official count showed her rival, centrist candidate Aecio Neves, of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), taking just over 48% of the vote.

Dilma Rousseff has pledged to kick-start Latin America's largest economy and make it more competitive.

On Sunday we heard from some of Brazil's voters as they took to the polls.

Now we hear from the same voters as they react to Dilma Rousseff's election win.

Daniel Viotti: "The atmosphere was like the World Cup finals. In the street there were people dressed in the candidates' colours and waving flags"

Angelica Mari, Sao Paulo

I voted for Dilma Rousseff. I hope that she will have the guts to be more daring and implement the changes people - and I mean every Brazilian - want to see: More investment in health and education, less bureaucracy and better conditions to do business, and of course, less corruption.

It has been an exciting couple of months of political campaigning - people have discussed politics more than I have seen in my lifetime.

"Lefties like me are a minority in this right-wing area of Sao Paulo"

The first major problem Dilma Rousseff is facing now is one of legitimacy. This was the tightest presidential campaign in Brazil's history, so Dilma has to acknowledge that and try to get the other half of the country behind her.

The other issue is that people seem to forget that we still live in a democracy. However close Aecio Neves came to winning this election yesterday, Dilma has been elected by the majority, so all the post-election talk about impeachment as an option, or even suggesting that the country is divided into the left-wing north and the right-wing south, is simply unacceptable.

The majority of those who voted against Dilma wanted the incumbent party out at any cost - as if electing Aecio Neves was a magic solution for all our major problems, including corruption. What people choose to ignore, or forget, is that both the PT and PSDB have been involved in recent, major corruption scandals. It never ends - people just go round in circles trying to argue who is the most corrupt when all we need is a "Day One" in politics and a new start.

I live in a very right-wing area of Sao Paulo state and lefties like me are in a minority. You get judged and frowned upon not only on social networks but also in the "real world". I was at a book launch by a bunch of artists and writers recently and Aecio supporters would walk past mumbling words of disdain - as if we didn't want to see a better country ourselves.

The fact is that the poor are still the majority and we need a government that focuses on them. The rich don't seem to understand that more equality will lead to less crime, more prosperity and more justice for all.

Tarlei Lemos Pereira, Sao Paulo

I think Brazil deserves much more.

Corruption is a cancer here, something simply unacceptable. There is no real democracy with corruption. We're living a false democracy.

Our economy isn't growing, health and education services are extremely poor. I voted against the incumbent president. I hoped the challenger would win this election.

I'm quite worried about the corrosion of Brazil's institutions after 12 years under PT. Members of PT are currently serving their sentences in penitentiaries but corruption is part of the Brazilian politicians' culture.

Daniel Viotti, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais

Children with Dilma stickers in Brazil. Photo taken by Daniel Viotti

I'm 20, I study law and live in the city where both candidates were born and where the competition was fierce.

The entire country got divided because of the election. Although both candidates said yesterday that we need to work together now towards a better country, this division remains.

Some people dress in black clothes due to the result while others dress in white and red to represent their joy. But the discussions, stickers and flags are now at home, and people are moving on with their lives.

I am very happy about the results. I think that this government is the best for the entire country, especially for the poorest people, but not only them.

I think Dilma has some hard work to do from now on. She has to win back foreign investment and ensure economic growth, besides invest in infrastructure. She also has to keep investing in important social programmes such as "Bolsa Familia", in education, security and health.

I supported Dilma Rousseff for the re-election because I think that Brazil has changed a lot in the past 12 years, especially for the poorest people, but also in terms of the opportunities for the middle classes.

The government claims that more than 20 million jobs were created and the minimum salary has real growth in this period. In the 2008 crisis, Brazil kept growing and the workers were not harmed.

My city is divided in half. Generally, the poorest people - who depend more on the government for health, education, transportation and life quality - voted for Dilma. And the richest people in the central part of the city voted for Aecio.

The atmosphere was like the World Cup finals. In the street there are people dressed in the candidates' colours and waving flags.

But there have been a lot of sad situations with angry people attacking supporters of the other party. A lot of people were afraid and anxious about the results.

Dilma brought more people to the street. In Recife, the capital city of the poorest region of Brazil, more than 50,000 people turned out to support Dilma. This kind of mobilisation and support is not usual here and it happened because the people of Brazil realised the improvements made to their life and country and don't want to lose the gains.

I hope that one day we have a country with more social equality, in which all the people have the same opportunities to study, work, be healthy and happy; and with no more miserable people.

Gerson Lima Neto, Recife

People are talking about a divide today. North vs South, black vs white, rich vs poor. I don't agree. Unfortunately, in my view this is the victory of those who don't read over those who do.

There is enough information about mismanagement by this government to support any rationale about taking [voting] it out.

It was kind of expected that PT would win in states such as Bahia, Pernambuco, Ceara, etc but I was surprised to see that PT won in Rio and Minas states. We have failed in our responsibility. Another period of PT ruling will ruin this country. It will probably be as bad as a dictatorship.

The main reason in my view why people were turning to Aecio (even in the northeast region) is the huge corruption allegations [during] the 12 years of PT rule.

Produced by Victoria Park