Brazil's Lula holds lead over Flavio Bolsonaro ahead of election, Datafolha poll shows

FILE PHOTO: Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a ceremony of social welfare program \"Bolsa Familia\" (Family Allowance) at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, March 2, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo

SAO PAULO, Sept 17 - Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva held a narrow numerical lead over Senator Flavio Bolsonaro in a potential runoff in the October presidential election, according to a Datafolha poll published on Thursday.

In the runoff scenario, Lula had 46% support and Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, had 44%, unchanged from the previous Datafolha poll released on September 11.

• With a margin of error of 2 percentage points, the result indicates a technical tie.

• In a first-round scenario, Lula had 39%, compared with 36% for Flavio Bolsonaro. Augusto Cury had 6%, Ronaldo Caiado 4%, Renan Santos 3% and Romeu Zema 2%.

• In the previous poll, Lula had 39% and Bolsonaro 35% in the first round.

• Under Brazil's electoral system, if no candidate wins more than 50% of valid votes in the first round, the top two advance to a runoff.

• Datafolha surveyed 2,002 people between September 15-17. REUTERS