Brazilians are heading to the polls to elect their next president in the most unpredictable election in decades.<br /><br /> Around 143 million are eligible to vote and the winning candidate must secure 50 percent to avoid a run-off on October 26th, though no candidate is polling above the 40 percent mark.<br /><br /> The election has seen the death of one candidate and the late surge of another, making the result difficult to call.<br /><br /> The outgoing President Dilma Rousseff from the left-wing Workers’ Party (PT) is seeking a second term. Polls show she is the favourite to win. However, voters may punish her over the economy’s lacklustre growth in the past four years.<br /><br /> Centre-right candidate Aecio Neves has eaten away at Rousseff’s main competitor Marina Silva, becoming the second lead candidate who she could face in the run-off.<br /><br /> Silva, the hero of the global conservation movement, had been ahead in the polls until recently. The elections looked like a two-horse race until Rousseff attacked her credentials.
