MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil: Lula might win in the first round, Datafolha study shows

Thursday's survey showed stability when compared to May's figures

Brazilian opposition presidential hopeful Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva would win the Oct. 2 elections over the incumbent Jair Bolsonaro by a margin wide enough to make a runoff unnecessary, according to the latest Datafolha survey published Thursday.

The two-time former head of state would garner 53% of the votes, while Bolsonaro would receive 32%, the most traditional public opinion study in the country showed.

Hence, the Workers' Party leader, who ruled the country between 2003 and 2010, would return to the Planalto Palace without a second round, since, counting only the valid or positive votes he would find himself across the 50% threshold.

In third place with 10 percent of the votes is

Former Minister Ciro Gomes of the Democratic Labor Party (PDT) came in third with 10% of the votes, followed by Congressman André Janones of the Avante Party with 2% and Senator Simone Tebet, of the Brazilian Democracy Movement, with 1%.

Back in May, Lula scored 54% against Bolsonaro's 30%. Therefore, Datafolha spoke Thursday of “stability” since slight variations are within the margin of error of two points this type of study may entail.

Datafolha informed the Superior Electoral Court that it surveyed 2,556 people in 181 cities in Brazil.

With empty and annulled votes removed, Lula leads with 47% of the votes against 28% for Bolsonaro and 8% for Gomes.

According to the survey published by the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, Lula is widely preferred among the poorest, who earn less than US$ 400 a month, women, young people up to 24 years of age, and those living in the northeast region, the least developed in the country.