Brazil presidential election to go to runoff

Dilma Rousseff seeking to be Brazil's first woman President

story by RTE News

Brazil's presidential election will go to a second round of voting after no candidate reached the 50% needed to claim victory.

An official tally of 98% of ballots showed Dilma Rousseff (photo above), Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's chosen candidate, won 47% of the vote to 33% for her nearest rival, former Sao Paulo state governor Jose Serra.

That was short of the 50%-plus-one-ballot threshold Ms Rousseff required to avoid an 31 October knockout round against Mr Serra.

AdvertisementSurveys had predicted Ms Rousseff would win 50% to 52% of the valid ballots yesterday.

'We can confirm there will be a second round in the presidential elections,' Ricardo Lewandowski, the president of the High Electoral Tribunal, told reporters.

The pre-election surveys suggested that Ms Rousseff would easily beat Mr Serra in the second round to become Brazil's first woman president.

Mr Serra's attempt to tar Ms Rousseff with scandals swirling in her camp and ruling Workers Party appeared to pay off in the days before the election, stalling her momentum and robbing her of support at the last minute.

But he did not benefit so much as the third-placed candidate in the race, Marina Silva, Mr Lula's former environment minister, whose 19% share of the ballots was far higher than the 14% forecast for her.

Yesterday's elections, which mobilised the country's 136m voters, were also to choose federal and state deputies, most of the senate, and the governors of all 26 states.

Voting is compulsory in Brazil.

Mr Lula, Brazil's most popular president ever, is leaving office at the end of the year after serving the maximum two straight terms permitted under Brazil's constitution.

Mr Lula hands over the reins to his successor on 1 January, 2011.