Brazil polls: Rousseff slightly ahead of Neves

Brasilia, Oct 21 (IANS/EFE) Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is slightly ahead of her rival Aecio Neves in the runup to the Oct 26 presidential runoff vote, according to a survey. The two, however, are in a "techinal tie".

The survey released Monday was conducted by MDA at the request of the National Transport Confederation. It found that Rousseff is supported by 45.5 percent of the voters compared to 44.5 percent who support her Social Democratic challenger.

According to MDA, if only valid votes are considered, meaning those voters who state their intention to submit blank or invalid ballots are not included, Rousseff garnered 50.5 percent and Neves got percent of the votes.

The survey has an error margin of 2.2 percent, meaning that - as MDA stated - the candidates find themselves in a "technical tie".

In the first electoral round Oct 5, Rousseff received 41.5 percent of the votes, compared with 33.5 for the Social Democratic senator.

Two voter intention surveys released last week found that Neves received 51 percent to Rousseff's 49 percent, a result that was also a "technical tie".

This was the first survey performed by MDA in the period prior to the second electoral round, and hence so far there is no other MDA-generated data to compare it with.

The firm said the survey was carried out last Saturday and Sunday among 2,002 voters in 137 cities.

--IANS/EFE

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