Bolsonaro-Lula presidential race down to the wire in Brazil, polls show

Brazil's heated statesmanlike contention has tightened up of a Sunday vote, respective sentiment surveys showed connected Saturday, with right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro eroding a flimsy vantage for leftist challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva successful astir polls.

Surveys by pollsters Datafolha and Quaest some showed Lula with 52% of valid votes against 48% for Bolsonaro, down from a 6 percentage-point pb 3 days prior, putting the incumbent successful striking region of a come-from-behind victory.

A survey by pollster MDA showed Lula's borderline slipping to conscionable 2 percent points, adjacent to the borderline of mistake for the canvass commissioned by transport assemblage lobby CNT.

Most polls inactive suggest Lula is the flimsy favourite to travel backmost for a 3rd term, capping a singular governmental rebound aft his jailing connected graft convictions that were overturned.

But Bolsonaro outperformed sentiment polls successful the first-round ballot connected Oct. 2, and galore analysts accidental the predetermination could spell either way.

The last sentiment surveys by pollsters IPEC and AtlasIntel, however, showed Lula holding a unchangeable and somewhat larger lead.

IPEC showed the leftist up by 54% to 46% of valid votes, excluding undecided voters and those readying to spoil their ballots. AtlasIntel, among the astir close pollsters successful the archetypal round, showed Lula's pb holding astatine 7 percent points.

Bolsonaro wrapped up his run successful the cardinal authorities of Minas Gerais, starring a motorbike rally with supporters. Lula walked with thousands of backers connected 1 of Sao Paulo's main avenues aft telling overseas reporters his rival was not acceptable to govern.

The profoundly polarizing figures besides attacked each other's quality and grounds successful their last televised statement connected Friday night. Bolsonaro opened the statement by denying reports helium mightiness unpeg the minimum wage from inflation, announcing alternatively helium would rise it to 1,400 reais ($260) a period if re-elected, a determination that is not successful his government's 2023 budget.

With their campaigns focusing connected swaying important undecided votes, analysts said the president gained small crushed successful the statement to triumph a contention that polls had shown astir unchangeable since Lula led the first-round voting by 5 percent points.

That effect was amended for Bolsonaro than astir polls had shown, giving him a boost of momentum to commencement the month, but the past 2 weeks of the run person presented headwinds.

A week ago, 1 of Bolsonaro's allies opened occurrence connected national constabulary officers coming to apprehension him.

On Sunday, 1 of his closest associates, Congresswoman Carla Zambelli, chased a Lula protagonist into a Sao Paulo edifice astatine weapon constituent aft a governmental statement successful the street, videos connected societal media showed. Zambelli told reporters she knowingly defied an electoral instrumentality that bans the carrying of firearms 24 hours earlier an election.

In their archetypal head-to-head statement this month, Lula blasted Bolsonaro's handling of a pandemic successful which astir 700,000 Brazilians person died, portion Bolsonaro focused connected the graft scandals that tarnished the estimation of Lula's Workers Party.

On Friday night, some candidates returned repeatedly to Lula's 2 presumption arsenic president from 2003 to 2010, erstwhile precocious commodity prices helped to boost the system and combat poverty. Lula vowed to revive those roar times, portion Bolsonaro suggested existent societal programs are much effective.