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Polls close in Brazil's presidential run-off

October 26, 2014

Vote counting is underway in Brazil's tense presidential elections as most polls have closed in the South American country. Surveys have tipped incumbent Dilma Rousseff to gain a narrow victory over her challenger.

https://p.dw.com/p/1DcTJ
Brazilian presidential candidates Dilma Rousseff (L) of the Workers' Party (PT) and Aecio Neves of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) gesturing to photographers after voting at their respective voting stations in the runoff presidential election in Porto Alegre (L) and Belo Horizonte October 26, 2014 (Photo: REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker (L) and Sergio Moraes)
Image: Reuters

Some 143 million voters were eligible to cast their vote in the presidential run-off which is seen as a referendum on the left-wing Worker's Party's (PT) 12 years of rule – eight years under former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and four years under President Dilma Rousseff.

The official results are expected on Monday.

Brazil's first female president, who has been hit hard by corruption scandals, is seeking a second term in office. Voter surveys have projected the 66-year-old president gaining a narrow lead over Aecio Neves, a former state governor from the center-right Party of Brazilian Social Democracy (PSDB).

Rousseff won the first round of elections on October 5 with 41.5 percent of the votes, to Neves' 33.5 percent. The 54-year-old Neves will be hoping to gain extra votes from the supporters of former environment minister Marina Silva, who secured 21.3 percent in the first round and failed to make the run-off. Silva publicly backed Neves in the run-off.

Neves has a strong support base among Brazil's upper-middle class and the rich. He campaigned on a pro-business platform and pledged, if elected, to revive the country's economy, which has stagnated since Rousseff took office in 2011.

shs/se (AFP, dpa)