[from the NYTimes]
"RIO DE JANEIRO, Monday, Oct. 2 — Brazil’s embattled president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, finished first in the presidential vote held here Sunday, but fell just short of the majority he needed to avoid a runoff on Oct. 29.
With more than 99.2 percent of the ballots tabulated early Monday, Mr. da Silva, his momentum checked by a last-minute corruption and ethics scandal, had 48.65 percent of the vote. (...)
Campaigning on a platform of social justice and clean government, Mr. da Silva and his leftist Workers’ Party won a landslide victory in a runoff four years ago this month. But his administration has been marked by one scandal after another, ranging from multimillion dollar schemes to buy the support of members of congress to rigging contracts for the purchase of blood products.
Nevertheless, Mr. da Silva had seemed assured of coasting to a first round re-election victory until the eruption of the so-called Dossiergate scandal two weeks ago. That was when Workers’ Party operatives were caught trying to pay $792,000 in cash for information they apparently thought would incriminate Mr. Alckmin’s party in a scandal at the Health Ministry involving kickbacks on the purchase of ambulances."
It's a shame that every election people find themselves voting for the candidate that is the least corrupt, the one who who has robbed them the least throughout the years. Watching people be ignorant is a painful thing.
