Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has secured a narrow lead over President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the eve of Sunday's presidential runoff, according to final opinion surveys indicating an election on a knife-edge.
A BTG/Nexus poll places Bolsonaro narrowly ahead with 50.5 percent against 49.5 percent for Lula, while a separate CNT/MDA survey published by news portal Poder360 puts the right-wing challenger at 50.7 percent compared with 49.3 percent for the incumbent.
The 1.4-percentage-point difference in the CNT/MDA poll—which surveyed 2,032 voters between October 21 and 23—falls within the survey's margin of error, confirming a technical tie.
When accounting for overall voting intentions, Bolsonaro received 46.3 percent, Lula garnered 45 percent, and 2.9 percent remained undecided.
A separate Datafolha survey showed both contenders level at 50 percent each.
The runoff follows the October 4, first round, in which Bolsonaro took a shock lead with 47.03 percent of valid votes over Lula's 45.16 percent, falling short of the majority needed for an outright win.
Street rallies
Tens of thousands of supporters took to the streets on Saturday as campaigning closed.
Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro turned red for Lula, who waved a massive national flag from a campaign truck alongside Workers' Party (PT) supporters before heading to Sao Paulo.
"The people must choose: either someone who kisses the national flag, or someone who kisses the American flag," Lula told the crowd.
In Belo Horizonte, capital of the bellwether state of Minas Gerais, Bolsonaro rallied large crowds alongside hundreds of motorcyclists wearing yellow national football shirts, pledging to slash spending, combat crime, and build 500,000 prison places.
Bolsonaro, whose father Jair Bolsonaro is serving 27 years for an attempted coup following his 2022 defeat to Lula, later travelled to Rio to meet supporters.
During their final televised debate on Friday night, the candidates exchanged sharp barbs, with Lula targeting the senator's lack of experience while Bolsonaro accused the president of leaving behind a "broken country".
