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Brazil election poll shows Rousseff gains ground against Neves

Brazil's presidential candidates Aecio Neves (R) of Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB) greets Dilma Rousseff of Workers Party (PT) after the television debate at the Bandeirantes TV studio in Sao Paulo October 14, 2014. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker

BRASILIA (Reuters) - President Dilma Rousseff has gained some ground, but remains locked in a fierce battle for votes with rival Aecio Neves ahead of the Oct. 26 runoff to Brazil's presidential election, a new poll showed on Monday. The leftist incumbent has 46 percent of voter support against 43 percent for Neves, according to the survey by polling firm Datafolha. In a prior Datafolha poll on Wednesday, Neves' support was 45 percent while Rousseff was 43 percent. The difference between the two is statistically insignificant because it is within the poll's margin of error. Excluding undecided voters, spoiled and blank survey responses, Rousseff has 52 percent against 48 percent for Neves, the poll showed. Datafolha interviewed 4,389 voters on Monday in a survey commissioned by the Globo media group and the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper. (Reporting by Alonso Soto; Editing by Chris Reese)