Brazil: Jair Bolsonaro has narrow first-round lead over Lula in poll

Bloomberg

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has a slight, first-round edge over his main challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the upcoming presidential race, but would still lose a runoff vote by a wide margin, according to the latest poll.
A survey by Futura Inteligencia published on Wednesday showed that the president would get 34.3% of voter intentions, while Lula would capture 33.3%.
Bolsonaro’s lead, which is within the margin of error, only appeared when potential voters were asked to spontaneously produce a name of who they would vote for. When respondents were read a list of the top contenders, Lula held an edge, though also so narrow that it was within the margin of error.
The poll, commissioned by Banco Modal SA based in Rio de Janeiro, is among the first to indicate a virtual tie between the main candidates in the October vote in the first round. Lula, 76, a two-term former president, has been the heavy favorite since Brazil’s top court tossed out corruption convictions that barred him from running for office in the last election.
Bolsonaro, 66, who downplayed the risk of Covid-19, is widely blamed for Brazil’s nearly 650,000 pandemic deaths and its economic malaise. Opinion polls in recent weeks, however, have increasingly showed Lula’s lead over Bolsonaro narrowing as the economic outlook improves.