RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's ultra-right-wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro took the lead in a poll released Wednesday about the upcoming presidential election, which also shows that he will lose in a simulated second round of voting.
It was the first poll by Brazilian Institute of Public Opinion and Statistics (Ibope) since Brazil's Superior Electoral Court declared jailed former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ineligible. Lula had taken the lead in all previous polls so far. Without his presence, the election scenario becomes considerably more complicated.
According to Ibope, Bolsonaro, from the Social Liberal Party, has 22 percent of voting intentions. Having served seven consecutive terms as a federal representative, Bolsonaro has managed to build an image of a maverick who is about to bring change.
The runner-up position is filled by two other candidates -- Ciro Gomes, from the Democratic Labor Party and Marina Silva, from Sustainability Network Party, both with 12 percent. Geraldo Alckmin, from the Social Democracy Party, has 9 percent.
Lula's running mate Fernando Haddad from the Workers' Party, who is expected to replace him on the ticket, has so far not managed to inherit Lula's massive voting base. According to Ibope, he has 6 percent of voting intentions.
The other eight candidates have an even lower percentage of voting intentions.
A total of 21 percent of electors said they will vote null and 7 percent remain undecided. The poll was carried out with 2,002 electors from all over Brazil and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.
While Bolsonaro takes the lead in the first round of polling, Ibope found that he would lose to major rivals in a simulated second round of voting, due to a high rejection rate. Bolsonaro is the most rejected candidate in the election, with 44 percent of electors saying they will not, under any circumstances, vote for him.
The other candidates have much lower rejection rates: Silva has 26 percent, followed by Haddad, with 23 percent; Alckmin, with 22 percent, and Gomes, with 20 percent.
In second round simulations, Bolsonaro loses to Gomes by 44-33 percent; to Silva (43-33 percent); and to Alckmin (41-32 percent). Against Haddad, there is a technical tie due to the poll's margin of error, with Haddad having 36 percent against Bolsonaro's 37 percent of voting intentions.
