Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro tied before Brazil runoff

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and right-wing challenger Flavio Bolsonaro are tied before Sunday's presidential runoff, according to a Datafolha survey published Thursday evening.

The poll showed Lula and Bolsonaro at 50 percent of voting intentions each, after polls two weeks earlier had shown Bolsonaro with a four-point lead. The candidates are due to meet Friday in a second and final televised debate hosted by TV Globo in Rio de Janeiro.

Bolsonaro, a senator and the son of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, finished two percentage points ahead of Lula in the first round earlier this month with 47 percent of the vote. His lead has pushed Lula's supporters into large rallies before the runoff.

Political analyst Leandro Gabiati, director of the consulting firm Dominium, said Lula was rising but had not yet made a decisive breakthrough. He said the debate could be Lula's last chance to change the race.

The campaign has also moved through courts and social media. Both candidates went to Brazil's top electoral court this week seeking to disqualify the other, each alleging abuse of social media.

Lula's campaign accuses Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, of election “interference” in favor of Flavio Bolsonaro through alleged algorithmic manipulation. Meta denied taking any action to favor one side, but previously said some Lula campaign ads were mistakenly deactivated because of technical errors.

Bolsonaro accuses Lula of “abuse of power” over the alleged mass dissemination of government actions during the electoral period through an official WhatsApp account.