Former Brazilian Partido Verde (PV) presidential candidate Marina Silva, who won 19 percent of ballots cast (about 20 million votes) in Brazil’s first-round presidential election on October 3, has chosen to not formally endorse either of the two candidates ahead of the second-round vote on October 31.

The polling gap between Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) candidate Dilma Rousseff and the Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira (PSDB) candidate José Serra has been narrowing steadily in recent weeks as candidates seek to win over voters from Ms. Silva’s camp. An endorsement by Ms. Silva could have had an important impact on the race. Ms. Silva, a one-time environment minister in President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government, said in a recent open letter that "not endorsing a candidate does not signify a neutral position, but an independent one, with (our) ideas and proposals reaffirmed."

Both presidential candidates faced off yesterday in the second televised debate of the election cycle. The major issue discussed was each candidate’s position on the privatization of state industries. Social issues like abortion, however, which the presidential hopefuls have recently used to draw votes from Ms. Silva’s camp, were notably absent.