Lula Shy of Outright Win in Brazil Vote-Exit Poll
SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - Exit polls showed leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva just shy of an outright victory in Brazil's presidential election on Sunday as voting stations in the contest to lead Latin America's largest country closed.
Lula, a former metalworker and ex-union leader running on the Workers' Party ticket, has 49 percent of the vote, according to an exit poll by the Ibope institute commissioned by the Globo television network.
Lula needs 50 percent plus one vote to win the election outright and avoid a runoff against the second-placed contender on Oct. 27.
Jose Serra, a former health minister and the candidate backed by outgoing President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's centrist coalition, had 20 percent versus 17 percent for Anthony Garotinho, the former governor of Rio de Janeiro state. The margin of error was 1 percent.
If the race goes to a run-off, shifting alliances could still thwart a Lula victory and deny him the title of the first leftist to be elected to head the world's fourth largest democracy.
Problems were reported with what was billed as the largest electronic election ever held, with voters casting ballots from the Amazon jungle to the huge industrial cities of the south.
On the poor outskirts of Brasilia, voters lined up for up to three hours in sweltering heat and some illiterate people had trouble figuring out the 25 key strokes on the computerized ballot box.
The Election Tribunal reported problems with one per cent of the 406,000 ballot boxes distributed across a country the size of the continental United States. Voting is mandatory and 115 million were registered to vote.
"There really aren't enough of these machines," said Sao Paulo law student Rachel Warschauer, 22.
CALM IN RIO
The day went ahead peacefully in Rio de Janeiro, where 40,000 soldiers and police put on a show of force to counter a threat from drug lords to stop slum dwellers from voting.
"It was very calm, with no serious incidents, just routine. There was no elections-related violence," said Jose de Arimateia, an official at Rio state's Security Secretariat.
It was Brazil's fourth election since its return to democracy after the 1964-85 military dictatorship.
Leading issues are unemployment, soaring crime and one of the world's worst gaps between rich and poor, in a country where gleaming condominiums overlook desperate slums.
Though a Lula victory might bring hope to 50 million Brazilians who live in poverty, the prospect of a leftist has unsettled financial players in Brazil and on Wall Street.
Among investors who poured money into Brazil under the Cardoso's free-market policies, there is concern over Lula's ability to run the world's ninth largest economy with its $260 billion in debt.
And with economic trouble elsewhere in Latin America, policy makers are keeping an eye on a vote that will have repercussions beyond its borders.
Central Bank President Arminio Fraga, speaking as he went to vote in Rio, said fraught markets will only calm down when a president is decided.
"People are waiting to see if what the candidates said becomes reality. But this is like soccer: practice is practice and the game is the game," Fraga said.
But for Rio street vendor Milton Gonzales, Lula was the answer. "He is the best candidate for increasing wages and health care. More jobs will reduce crime and increase security."
Lula had to wade through throngs of supporters chanting "Lula-la" to vote in the industrial town of Sao Bernardo do Campo where his Workers Party has its roots. Instead of wearing his traditional red tie, he wrapped himself in a Brazilian flag.
A former strike leader who was jailed during the dictatorship, Lula has moved away from his radical past and says he is committed to moderate economic policies while trying to improve social programs.
The election also highlighted the diversity of Brazil's 170 million population, from the Japanese community of Sao Paulo to the descendants of slaves brought from Africa and the indigenous people that met the Portuguese more than 500 years ago.
In Sao Bernardo do Campo, Arnaldo Golfieri, a second generation Brazilian of Italian descent, showed his commitment to his family's adopted country.
"Being a good Brazilian I chose to vote for the least bad," Golfieri said.
Brazilians, who were banned from drinking alcohol on election day, also voted for 27 state governors as well as lawmakers to the national Congress and local legislatures.
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