Opposition candidate Marina Silva is tied with President Dilma Rousseff in the second round of Brazil’s October presidential election, according to a Datafolha poll published today.
Silva would win 46 percent of votes in a runoff, statistically tied with Rousseff, who has 44 percent of voter support, according to the poll published in the digital edition of the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper. The survey of 5,340 people conducted Sept. 17-18 has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Silva had a four-point lead, also falling within the margin of error to statistically tie Rousseff, in the last Datafolha poll published Sept. 10.
Brazilians go to the polls next month with the economy in recession for the first half of this year and inflation in August breaching 6.5 percent ceiling of
policy makers’ target range. Silva, who wants to limit presidential mandates to one five-year term, says Rousseff is the first president in a generation to leave Brazil worse off than when she took office, and the country risks losing gains in economic stability and social inclusion.
Rousseff says her administration’s economic troubles are due to the international financial crisis, and Brazil, with low unemployment and rising wages, is poised to enter a new cycle of development. She says Silva’s promises to grant the central bank independence by law and focus on alternative sources of energy will threaten jobs, reduce future investment in education and lead to instability.
Rousseff has 37 percent of voter support in the first round, compared to 30 percent for Silva and 17 percent for a third candidate, Aecio Neves, today’s poll shows. This compares to 36 percent for Rousseff, 33 percent for Silva and 15 percent for Neves in the Sept. 10 poll.
The first round will be held Oct. 5, with a runoff scheduled for Oct. 26 if no candidate wins more than 50 percent of valid votes or more votes than all other candidates combined.
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