Brazil’s Presidential Race Is Marred by Violence

SÃO PAULO— Brazilians are preparing to head to the polls in Sunday’s presidential election after one of the most bitter campaigns since the country’s return to democracy in 1985, marked by a spate of brutal killings that police believe were politically motivated.

President Jair Bolsonaro and his leftist rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a former president who polls show will likely win, have taken to wearing bulletproof vests. At least two dozen candidates on the political left and right said they have requested police protection after receiving death threats from the opposition.