Brazil's exit polls herald a wave of support for the right wing

BRASILIA (Reuters) – The first polls in Brazil prompted supporters of right-wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro to hope to defy expectations and win the first round.

The fiery legislator jumped in polls last week and all major polls herald a second round in what has become a referendum on Bolsonaro, a former army captain who praises dictatorships and promises a crackdown brutal against dictatorships. crime and transplant.

However, Sunday exit polls suggest an even more dramatic change. A poll at the exit of Ibope for the governor of Rio de Janeiro showed that former judge Wilson Witzel, ally of Bolsonaro, won a shocking victory over the former mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, suggesting that previous polls under – esteemed the deep antipathy of the electorate for the Left Workers Party.

"Exit polls indicate a tsunami" in favor of Bolsonaro candidates, said Twitter on Twitter Murillo de Aragão, director of the political risk company Arko in Brasilia.

The exit vote on the presidential race will be published at 19 hours. local time (22:00 GMT), at the closing of polling stations in the far western states.

Bolsonaro, 63, was accompanied by a nurse during his vote Sunday, a month after the almost deadly stabbing at a rally that required two emergency surgeries. He said he was confident that he had a majority of the valid votes needed to win the race without a second round on October 28, avoiding a confrontation with the Left Labor Party (PT).

"God willing, we will settle this today," he told reporters. "We are on an upward trajectory and are convinced that the Brazilian people want to stand out from socialism."

An exit poll also showed one of Bolsonaro's closest aides, former police major Olimpio Gomes, winning a surprise victory in the Senate race in the state of Sao Paulo. In the state of Minas Gerais, exit polls showed that another ally of Bolsonaro won a thwarted victory in the race at the head of the governor.

Bolsonaro is riding a wave of anger over the establishment of one of the world's biggest political corruption schemes and a surge of crime in the country, which has the highest number of murders in the world. Its supporters accuse the PT, which has ruled Brazil for 13 of the past 15 years, as well as reckless economic policies that have contributed to Brazil's worst recession in a generation.

However, Brazil is divided on the danger posed by Bolsonaro, a long-time congressman who advocates torture and police violence, congratulates the country's military regime for the period 1964-1985 and suggests that opponents could win the race only through fraud. is committed to respecting the electoral process.

Geneis Correa, 46, a commercial executive in Brasilia, said she had voted for Bolsonaro and would support a coup if the PT won, accusing the party of widespread corruption.

"If they win, it will be Venezuela. People will be hungry, with a currency that is worthless, "she said, leaving a polling station with her daughter. "If the PT is elected to power and there is military intervention, I will support it."

THE LEGACY OF LULA

Bolsonaro's closest rival, PT candidate Fernando Haddad, former minister of education and mayor of Sao Paulo, has replaced the imprisoned party's founder, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is serving a term of imprisonment. for bribery and money laundering.

Two polls released late Saturday showed that Bolsonaro had increased his lead over Haddad over the past two days, taking 36 percent of voter intentions, compared with 22 percent in Haddad.

Polling stations opened at 08:00 (11:00 GMT) and the last one will be closed at 19:00. Time of Brasilia (2200 GMT). The polls at the exit of polling stations and the official results will soon begin to circulate via the electronic voting system of Brazil.

The vote progressed without major incident. Many Brazilians had long waiting times to vote and a line of more than 500 people insinuated in front of a polling station in the Copacabana neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro.

The 147 million voters in Brazil will choose the president, the 513 members of the lower house of Congress, two-thirds of the 81 members of the Senate, as well as the governors and legislators of the 27 states.

Nearly two-thirds of the electorate is concentrated in the more densely populated south and southeast of Brazil, where are its largest cities, Sao Paulo and Rio Janeiro, and where Bolsonaro occupies a dominant position. A quarter of the voters live in the less developed north-east, traditionally a stronghold of the PT.

THE TRUMP OF BRAZIL

In the most polarized election since the end of military rule in 1985, Bolsonaro is backed by a group of retired generals who have criticized PT governments from 2003-2016 and publicly advocated military intervention if corruption persists.

Bolsonaro, who compared his campaign to US President Donald Trump's race in 2016, described the accusations of sexism, racism and homophobia as "false news" with a series of offensive comments.

A Bolsonaro government would accelerate the privatization of state-owned companies to reduce Brazil's budget deficit and relax environmental controls for the agricultural and mining sectors. It would also block efforts to legalize abortion, drugs and gay marriage.

Bolsonaro said Sunday that he had the support of 350 congressmen, thanks to the broad support of the voting bloc of agriculture and many evangelicals.

Haddad, who introduced himself as a fiscally responsible moderator, blamed Bolsonaro for ignoring the televised debates and accused him of wanting to win in the first round to avoid further democratic talks.

"This is the most serious moment in our history. People vote for Bolsonaro irrationally, with their emotions, "said Ubiramar de Sousa, a supporter of Haddad, a doctor who voted in a school in Brasilia.

(Graph: Polls, questions and main candidates in the Brazilian election – tmsnrt.rs/2Ixe0NI)