Lula's lead on Bolsonaro narrows slightly ahead of Brazil election, poll shows
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's voter support grew by three percentage points from last month, while approval for his rival, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, remained flat ahead of the country's October elections, a survey by pollster Datafolha showed on Thursday.
In the latest poll, Lula received 47 per cent of voter support against Bolsonaro's 32 per cent, compared with 47 per cent and 29 per cent respectively in July.
In a potential second-round runoff between the two candidates, the poll added, Lula would return to the office with 54 per cent of the votes against Bolsonaro's 37 per cent.
Lula, a leftist candidate and a former Brazilian president, has seen his advantage shrink each month from the 29 points lead he had in December, the poll said.
In Rio de Janeiro, Ricardo Ismael, a local, said he didn’t trust the poll’s results as he believes Bolsonaro will finally be reelected in the runoff.
Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and his leftist front-running challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva formally launched their campaigns on Tuesday (August 16) for Brazil's most polarized elections in decades in October.
The race pits a nationalist-populist with an agenda backed by Christian conservatives against a former union leader and two-term president of the country (2003-2010) who was jailed for corruption until his convictions were annulled.