Eight of the ten voters that Folha has been following since March, when they did not yet have a presidential candidate, have already indicated a preferred name in the final stretch of the campaign.
Choices are not always accompanied by enthusiasm. Even among those who have already nominated a candidate, there are those who remain in doubt about how they would vote in a possible second round between President Lula (PT) and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), leaders in the polls.
Lula, Flávio and Ronaldo Caiado (PSD) each have two preferences; Augusto Cury (Avante) and Renan Santos (Mission), one. One interviewee says he will vote for a dwarf candidate as a form of protest, and another considers canceling it. The interviews are not statistically representative.
Psychologist Agda Abreu, from Senhor do Bonfim (BA), chose Lula, despite criticizing the PT member's current management. She rules out right-wing candidates and says that Cury did not represent her in the debates. "The vote will not be for love now, it will be for lack of options", he states.
Surveyor Nissen Cabral Jr., from Dourados (MS), follows the same path. He cites the usefulness of a vote to block Flávio's advancement and the concern with democracy and the autonomy of the Judiciary, in which he defends reforms.
"I don't feel comfortable voting at will or with total freedom, due to the latest polls of voting intentions," he said.
The results of the research also weigh on Magali Barros, who works in customer service in São Paulo, but in favor of Flávio. She says she likes Caiado, but she fears wasting her vote by choosing him.
Magali, who had initially ruled out Flavio, attributes the change to the campaign. "Over time I started to follow the election schedule and my thinking started to change a little."
Chief Baré Rui Leno Macedo de Moraes, from Barcelos (AM), maintains his inclination for Flávio. He cites the cost of food and hopes that the candidate will pay attention to indigenous peoples, although he recalls criticism of his father, Jair Bolsonaro's management, in this area. He denies, however, that his motivation is to defeat Lula.
"I have nothing against Lula, on the contrary", says Rui, who credits the PT member with expanding access to university. "We will never root against the country."
Farmer José Marques, from Bocaiuva (MG), says he has decided on Caiado in the first round. He wants a change in the Presidency and less confrontation between political camps. He claims to see this division also in the STF (Supreme Federal Court), between André Mendonça and Alexandre de Moraes, and says that this weighs on his choice.
In a possible second round between Lula and Flávio, however, I would choose the PT member. “I never voted blank or null,” he says. "I always make a choice, whether I'm wrong or right, but I choose."
Businessman Renato Lucas da Silva, who manufactures packaging in São José dos Campos (SP), makes a similar choice. Previously inclined towards Romeu Zema (Novo), he is now considering voting for Caiado to strengthen an alternative to Lula and Flávio.
Renato criticizes the government and talks about taxes, production costs and the difficulties of a small company. "We don't want to borrow money, we want to sell and we want to receive money too."
In a possible second round between Lula and Flávio, he says he would end up choosing the PT member. "I'm going to say something that will violate my principles: between Flávio and Lula, I prefer to vote for Lula."
Cartoonist André Guedes, from Rio, nominates Renan Santos in the first round, although he has reservations. He says he wants to signal to the strongest candidates that there would be alternatives to them.
In a possible second round between Lula and Flávio, however, it remains divided. He says that he even jokes with friends that there are days when he is more on either side, as he reacts to the news and the political debate on the networks.
"There are days when I say: today I'm really 13. Then, no, today I'm really 22."
Retired professor Almir Barros Costa, from Salvador, has not yet chosen a name. He intends to vote for a left-wing candidate to express dissatisfaction. "I'm going to vote for a person who I know won't win," he says. He describes the choice as a way of sending a message to politicians. In a second round between Lula and Flávio, he says he prefers Lula.
Almir states that he has lost the hope he still had in the Supreme Court, but that disappointment with the court does not change his vote.
Kitchen assistant Ednilza Jacinto de Oliveira, from Peruíbe (SP), also works as a caregiver and says she hasn't followed much of the news. He discarded Flávio, whom he associates with "a lot of fraud" and "a lot of lies", and went on to nominate Cury, whose books he has already read and whose proposals he says he still evaluates.
"I'm going to take a chance on him", he says, explaining that he is looking for an alternative to a blank vote. In a possible second round between Lula and Flávio, he still hesitates between the PT and the white candidate, but says he has already ruled out the senator. "Either Lula or blank."
Commercial supervisor Sandra Roque, from São Paulo, remains unenthusiastic about the presidential candidates and is considering canceling them. Caiado still arouses some interest, but she says she thinks he lacks “pulse”. He considers that Augusto Cury believes he can act in politics, but does not have the profile for it, and says he does not see plausible proposals in Renan Santos.
Lula is ruled out. "That thing about increasing Bolsa Família just a few days before the election... Oh, it's going to catch you," he says.
Flávio didn't convince her either. "I think he's more interested in selling the election to get his father out of jail and letting Eduardo return from abroad than wanting to be president himself," he says.
According to a Datafolha survey released on Thursday (24), Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro each have 23% among non-aligned voters in the stimulated first round scenario, followed by Augusto Cury, with 15%, Renan Santos, with 8%, and Ronaldo Caiado, with 7%.
Blanks and nulls total 13%, and 3% are undecided. In a possible second round between Lula and Flávio, the senator has 39% in this segment, compared to 34% for the PT member, configuring a technical tie; 24% would vote blank or null and 2% are undecided.
