Brazil's Lula da Silva barred from running for presidency

A majority of justices on Brazil's electoral court voted late Friday to bar ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from running in October's presidential election, virtually ending any chance that the front-runner will get on the ballot.

The decision, while long expected, leaves tens of millions of voters without a candidate and adds uncertainty to the race to lead Latin America's largest nation.

After several hours of debate late Friday, five justices had voted against da Silva's candidacy and just one in favour.

One more was still to vote, though the majority was enough to seal da Silva's fate.

Supreme Court Justice Luis Roberto Barroso cast the first vote, saying barring da Silva was "very simple" due to the conviction and upheld appeal.

"There is no margin here for the electoral court to make any other evaluation but the one showing there is a conviction, and that conviction matters in the candidate's eligibility" to run, said Barroso.

Justice Edson Fachin disagreed, citing a recent call by a UN human rights committee calling for da Silva to be allowed to run while he appeals his conviction.

While justices were debating, the Workers' Party put out ads on its social media channels featuring da Silva, holding to a strategy to keep the former president front and center as long as possible.

Da Silva was wildly popular as president of Latin America's largest nation between 2003 and 2010.

US President Barack Obama once called him the "most popular politician on earth."