Timeline: Brazil's 2018 Elections

The leading presidential candidate is sitting in jail. A right-wing candidate from a minor party who draws comparisons to Donald Trump is rising in the polls. More than 90 percent of the deputies named in Lava Jato are running for reelection.

Brazil’s 2018 election scenario is fraught with difficult questions. Will ex-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva—who polls predict would win the elections should he be allowed to run for office today—be on the ballot? If not, will his party support another candidate? Will social media and outsiders play a more decisive role than television or party coalitions in electoral outcomes?

We’ll start getting some of the answers along the path to the October 7 first-round vote. Here are important dates to keep in mind along the way.