Brazil was on the verge of electing its first female president today, with the first exit polls predicting that Dilma Rousseff, a former Marxist rebel, had won after taking 58 percent of the vote.
An estimated 135 million Brazilians were due to choose between Rousseff, the 62-year-old Workers' party (PT) candidate, and Jose Serra, a 68-year-old former health minister from the Social Democracy party (PSDB).
While the exits polls from Brazil's Globo television network indicated that victory was in Rousseff's grasp, electoral officials overseeing the official count said that with 85 percent of the vote counted, she was leading with 54.67 percent to Serra's 45.33 percent.
Rousseff, the chosen successor of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was forced into a potentially tricky run-off with Serra earlier this month after a surprise showing from the Green party candidate Marina Silva denied her an outright majority.
But recent days have seen the book-loving former chief of staff pull away from her rival, opening up a 10-15% lead by flaunting her relationship with President Lula on the airwaves and vowing to push on with his "social revolution".
In a televised debate on Friday Rousseff, who had plastic surgery to boost her appeal, said: "I promise to create a country filled with opportunities for everyone, where millions of Brazilians are able to enjoy access to the material benefits of civilisation.
"Twenty-eight million Brazilians have been lifted out of poverty and I will remove the remaining 20 million".
Serra, meanwhile, has visited some 120 Brazilian cities in an attempt to rally support and reportedly indulged in daily doses of honey to improve his ability to communicate with voters.
The Guardian
