Brazil headed to second-round vote for presidency

Official vote returns yesterday indicated Brazil's leading presidential candidate, Dilma Rousseff, has been forced into a second-round runoff.

Rousseff, a one-time Marxist guerrilla hand-chosen to succeed popular President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, failed to secure a first-round victory despite a wide lead.

To win outright, a candidate needs to win 50 percent plus one vote.

Brazil's Supreme Electoral Court reported Sunday that with 97.5 percent of the votes counted, Rousseff needed 3.4 percent for a first-round victory, putting an outright win out of her reach.

Rousseff, who could become Brazil's first female leader, will face her centrist opponent, Jose Serra, in the Oct. 31 runoff. Serra had 32.8 percent of the vote with nearly all ballots in. A third candidate had the remaining votes.

Rousseff, 62, served as Silva's chief of staff and before that as his energy minister. She has vowed to continue the market-friendly policies of the outgoing president, which have lifted millions out of poverty.

Serra, 68, is a former senator and governor of Sao Paulo state. He, too, has promised to continue the popular policies of Silva.

Silva, 64, who has been a candidate in every presidential election since 1989, is constitutionally barred from running for a third term. - AP