Dilma Rouseff
Brazil's president Dilma Rouseff will go against Aecio Neves after a runoff was declared. Reuters

There will be a runoff between Brazil’s incumbent President Dilma Rousseff and challenger Aecio Neves after she failed to win enough votes to avoid Round 2, Reuters reported. With 98 percent of votes counted, Rousseff captured 41.4 percent of the ballots to Neves' 33.8 percent. To avoid a runoff, Rousseff would have had to win more than 50 percent of the vote. The runoff is scheduled for Oct. 26.

Neves, a two-term governor, ran with a “safe change” campaign in what has been one of the most volatile elections for Brazil in decades. He has apparently been able to persuade opposition voters he was the best candidate to take over for Rousseff since the country has faced an economic decline.

tag-reuters (3)
Presidential candidates (L-R) President Dilma Rousseff of the Workers' Party and Aecio Neves of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party gesture to photographers in this combination photograph of them arriving to vote at their respective voting stations in Porto Alegre (L) and Belo Horizonte (R). Reuters/Edison Vara (L), Washington Alves (R)

The unemployment rate has been lower, about 5 percent, than under any of her predecessors, minimum wage has risen and the number of undernourished children has declined, the BBC reported. But public perception of the Brazilian leader has skewed over the last 18 months due to a recession, corruption scandals and protests over World Cup costs.

Marina Silva, who led opinion polls before the election, took third place with 21.3 percent of the votes.

The turnout was 80 percent, the BBC wrote.

Follow me on Twitter @mariamzzarella

RELATED STORIES
Twitter