With 76 pct counted, Brazil's vote set for runoff
( 2002-10-07 11:29 ) (7 )

Leftist front-runner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had 47 percent of the votes after three-fourths of the ballots had been counted on Monday for Brazil's presidential election, signaling the race would go to a second round.

The Supreme Electoral Court said that with 76 percent of the votes counted, Jose Serra, the candidate backed by outgoing President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's centrist coalition, had 24 percent.

This made him the probable contender in a Oct. 27 second round against Lula, a former metalworker and union leader. A candidate needs 50 percent plus one vote to win the election outright in the first round.

Anthony Garotinho, the former governor of Rio de Janeiro state, had 17 percent while center-left candidate Ciro Gomes had 13 percent.

Brazil's election is being closely watched across Latin America and in Washington and Wall Street on speculation that a leftist victory could mark a departure from the US-sponsored development model of unbridled free-market policies.

Lula, making his fourth bid for the presidency on the Workers' Party ticket, has tapped a strong desire among Brazilians to change the model that quashed three-digit inflation but made little progress against poverty.