The nail-biter poll is being “very closely” watched by US President Donald Trump, who has championed Latin America’s swing to the right in recent elections.
Washington suspended consular services in Brasilia over “security concerns” and Australia closed its embassy for the same reason. Neither gave details.
Pressure from Trump has loomed large over a campaign dominated by scandals and insults that has done little to ease Brazil’s deep political polarization.
Edinho Silva, president of Lula’s Workers’ Party (PT), told journalists that the US closing its consulates “makes absolutely no sense. It is one of the ways Trump has to vie for Brazilian public opinion.”
Veteran leftist Lula, 80, is in a dead heat with the son of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, and opinion polls predict the vote will go to a runoff on Oct 25.
“The race is tied but not at a standstill,” Felipe Nunes, director of the Quaest polling institute, told AFP.
Many of the nation’s 160 million registered voters are disenchanted with their options.
Marcelo Vilanova, a 32-year-old fish market manager in the southeastern city of Juiz de Fora, said he was voting for Lula as the “lesser of two evils.”
Lucas Sales, 38, a cell phone shop owner in the city, is voting for Flavio Bolsonaro even if “he himself isn’t the best option,” citing his promise to be tough on crime – a key concern for many Brazilians in this election.
