Lula is 16 points ahead of the far-right Jair Bolsonaro, current president of Brazil. | Photo: EFE

Brasilia, September 22 (RHC)-- With 10 days to go before the elections, the polls of the main Brazilian institutes give Lula as the winner.  The latest polls on the presidential race in Brazil, continue to show that former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva leads the voting intention in view of the next presidential elections, to be held next October 2nd.

A recent survey by the Instituto de Inteligencia en Pesquisa y Consultoría Estratégica (IPEC) indicated earlier this week that the petista candidate is 16 points ahead of the far-right Jair Bolsonaro, the current president of the South American country who is seeking reelection.

For its part, the latest poll published so far by the Datafolha Institute of Brazil, states that Lula would obtain 45 percent of the votes, which translates into 48 percent of the valid votes, and it would be necessary to go to a second round.

This research also places Bolsonaro at 9 points below Lula, while candidate Ciro Gomes of the Democratic Labor Party (PDT) ranks third in Brazilians' voting intention, with around 8 percent.

According to reports this week, several left-wing intellectuals and politicians of the Latin American region issued an open letter to Gomes, requesting his resignation from his candidacy in order to facilitate Lula's victory in the first round of the elections.

In the Brazilian electoral scenario, there is concern about political violence, and the risk of attacks that Lula's supporters may face from Bolsonaro's supporters. Brazil's Electoral Court also banned voters from carrying weapons from 48 hours before election day.