Brazil Election: Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva Hopes Jair Bolsonaro Will 'Have a Moment of Sanity' and Accept Defeat

The Brazil election is nearing its head as Brazilian voters prepare to head to the polls in less than a week for the second round of voting.

Brazilian presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he hopes his far-right rival, Brazil's incumbent president, Jair Bolsonaro, will accept his defeat, according to an Aljazeera News report.

Lula served two terms as president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010. He claimed that he had lost three elections before, and each time he lost, he "didn't keep cursing, being agitated."

The former president noted in a news conference in Sao Paulo on Monday that he hoped the current Brazilian president will "have a moment of sanity" and call him to accept the election result.

Experts have issued concerns for months that Bolsonaro will not accept the results of the election, which is set to start the second round of voting on October 30.

The first round was on October 2, wherein Lula beat Bolsonaro but fell short of what he needed to secure a majority vote.

Second Round of Brazil Election

Surveys showed that Bolsonaro continues to be behind his rival Lula. However, the race seems to be closing in, as reported by The New York Times.

Bolsonaro called the polling forms "liars," claiming that their mistakes swung up to three million votes to Lula in the first round.

He also advocated for the firms to face the consequences "for the crimes they committed." However, the Brazilian president has not stated what crimes these were.

The Brazilian Association of Pollsters noted in a statement that their organization was "outraged" at efforts to criminalize surveys that "turn out to be inaccurate." The group said that starting an investigation during an ongoing election presents "another clear attempt to impede scientific research."

Polling firms noted that their work was not to predict elections but to provide a snippet of voters' intentions at the time a survey was conducted.

Associated Press News reported that many political analysts have concerns that Bolsonaro has laid the groundwork to reject election results if he loses and will try to cling to his position.

Bolsonaro has earlier repeatedly claimed that Brazil's electronic voting machines "are prone to fraud" despite having no evidence to support his allegations.

Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro Gap

The Brazilian Report noted that 92% of voters will not change their vote in the second round of the election.

Most voters believe Lula will win as compared to just 31% of those who think Bolsonaro will be re-elected.

In addition, 77% noted that endorsements from prominent figures do not sway their voting decision.

Lula scored 49% in last week's total voting intentions as compared to Bolsonaro's 41%. It excludes voters who remain undecided or plan to spoil their ballots.

The survey also projected that Lula would have 54% of valid votes against Bolsonaro's 45%.

READ MORE: Brazil: Human Remains Found in Area Where British Journalist and Brazilian Indigenous Expert Were Last Seen

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Lula appeals to Brazil’s evangelicals before second round vote - from Al Jazeera English