Brazil’s presidential race remains tightly contested after a poll published Monday showed President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro in a technical tie for the second-round runoff.
The survey, commissioned by BTG Pactual and conducted by polling firm Nexus between August 28 and August 30, placed Lula at 46% support and Bolsonaro at 45%, unchanged from a prior poll released on August 24. The margin of error of 2 percentage points exceeds the gap between the two candidates, indicating a statistical deadlock.
In the first-round scenario outlined by the poll, Lula leads with 39% of voter support, down from 41% in the previous survey, while Bolsonaro holds 33%, a decline from 37%. Augusto Cury follows with 11%, Ronaldo Caiado at 5% and Renan Santos at 3%. Under Brazil’s electoral rules, a candidate must secure more than 50% of valid votes in the first round to avoid a runoff between the top two contenders.
The presidential election is scheduled for October, with a potential runoff to follow if no candidate secures an outright majority in the initial vote. The latest findings reflect a narrowing race as campaigning intensifies ahead of the vote.
