BLOOMBERG – Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and current President Jair Bolsonaro are trying to recruit new voters as the presidential race draws to a close. Both candidates competed on Thursday in the north-east of the country, where they tried to convince residents of one of the poorest regions with their government plans or their promises.
Lula, who ruled the country from 2003 to 2010, won the first round earlier this month with 48% support. Bolsonaro got 43%. Since neither of them achieved the simple majority required for an overall victory, they will face each other in a second ballot on October 30th.
Lula was at an event in Aracaju, the capital of Sergipe State. From there, he assured that if elected, he would negotiate with the Brazilian Banking Association and major retailers to give more credit to those who earn the least in the country.
“The government can set up a guarantee fund to provide finance to people on low incomes,” Lula told reporters on the sidelines of the event. The fund would cover costs if debts go unpaid, he said, adding that up to 80 million Brazilians have debts of less than the equivalent of $760.
An important support for Lula comes from the nine states of the Northeast, historically one of the poorest regions in Brazil and a stronghold of the Labor Party. According to the Quaest poll, more than two-thirds of voters support Lula.
But after a better-than-expected first round, Bolsonaro, 67, is trying to break new ground in this segment of the population.
The President made his first visit to the Northeast since the first round, stopping in Lula’s home state of Pernambuco. There he defended his handling of the pandemic and apologized for statements made at the height of the crisis.
The president has come under fire at home and abroad for comparing the coronavirus to “a little cold” and questioning the effectiveness of vaccines. Almost 700,000 people have died from Covid-19 in Brazil, the highest number of deaths in the world behind the United States.
“I think I’ve done everything possible to fight Covid-19,” he told reporters in the coastal city of Recife. “Maybe I exaggerated a bit. My apologies, but it’s part of the thrill.”
What the polls say
In the second round, the former president would receive 54% of valid votes, which excludes blank and invalid votes, according to a poll released Thursday by Quaest. Bolsonaro would get 46%. but When the data was weighted by the voters most likely to vote on Election Day, Quaest found Lula’s support dropped to 53% versus Bolsonaro’s 47%.
The poll, commissioned by brokerage firm Genial Investimentos, surveyed 2,000 Brazilians between October 10 and 12, with a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.
Another poll released by AtlastIntel also pointed to a more competitive race, with Lula receiving 52.4% of valid votes compared to 47.6% for Bolsonaro. The pollster surveyed 4,500 people between Oct. 8 and Oct. 12, with a margin of error of plus or minus a percentage point.
Major pollsters failed to fully win support for the right-wing president and his allies, in some cases underestimating Bolsonaro by almost 10 percentage points.
— With the help of Bruna Lessa and Isadora Calumby.