Brazil's Lula on 48%, ahead of Bolsonaro on 41%, poll shows ahead of vote

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has a seven-point-lead over incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro ahead of an Oct. 30 runoff vote, according to a poll by Genial/Quaest published on Thursday.

The election headed for a run-off vote after far-right Bolsonaro beat expectations in Sunday's first-round vote, ruining the hopes of leftist Lula, who was president from 2003 to 2010, that he could win outright.

Lula had 48% voter support versus Bolsonaro's 41%, according to the latest survey.

Pollsters were widely criticized after the first-round vote for greatly underestimating support for Bolsonaro.

The survey by pollster Genial/Quaest interviewed 2,000 people between Oct. 3 and 5 and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

(Reporting by Peter Frontini; Editing by Anthony Esposito and Rosalba O'Brien)