Lula da Silva well ahead of Bolsonaro in last poll before Brazilian presidential elections

On the eve of the official start of campaigning, former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva received 44 percent of the vote compared to 32 percent for his main rival, current President Jair Bolsonaro, in a poll released Monday by the IPEC institute.

Labor’s Ciro Gomes followed the main presidential contenders with six percent, Senator Simone Tebet of the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB) with two percent, and Vera Lúcia of the United Socialist Workers’ Party (PSTU) with one percent of the vote.

The poll, which surveyed 2,000 people in 130 municipalities, has a margin of error of two percentage points and was published in the South American country’s main news program, Jornal Nacional of the Globo channel, a few hours before the start of the election campaign on August 16.

In Brazil, the winning candidate must receive half plus one of the valid votes, excluding the invalid or blank votes, to win the first round on Oct. 2, so a possible second round on Oct. 30 is not out of the question.

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