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Rousseff's lead unchanged in Brazil election poll

by Hugo Bachega and Reese Ewing | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Friday, 24 September 2010 09:16 GMT

 

* Rousseff set for 1st round win in elections 10 days off

* Has 51 percent of voter support vs. Serra's 24 percent

SAO PAULO, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Brazil's ruling party candidate Dilma Rousseff has maintained her lead for the Oct. 3 presidential election despite a recent corruption scandal involving a former aide, a poll by Vox Populi showed Thursday.

Rousseff had 51 percent support compared with 24 percent for former Sao Paulo state governor Jose Serra, the poll showed. The numbers were unchanged from a Vox Populi poll released on Friday.

If the election were held today, Rousseff would likely win in the first round, which requires 50 percent plus one vote of the valid votes cast.

A first round win would give her a considerable mandate. Even President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva never won in the first round and he is one of Brazil's most popular presidents. Rousseff is likely also to have a large majority in Congress.

Rousseff has suffered little from the ethics scandal involving her party and successor in the chief of staff's office under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that came to light last week.

Lula's chief of staff, Erenice Guerra, resigned over allegations she was involved in a kickback scheme for public works contracts. Guerra was Rousseff's deputy before Rousseff resigned as Lula's cabinet chief to run for president.

Former Sao Paulo state governor Serra, 68, has also been accusing Rousseff and her party of having illegally accessed the tax records of his daughter and opposition members to gather potentially damaging information against them.

Rousseff has denied wrongdoing in both cases.

The Vox Populi poll was conducted among 3,000 people from Sept. 18 to 21. The margin of error is plus or minus 1.8 percent. (Reporting by Hugo Bachega and Reese Ewing; Editing by Eric Walsh)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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