The favorite for the Brazilian presidential post, Bulgaria-descended Dilma Rousseff, cast her vote Sunday in her hometown of Belo Horizonte at the run off elections, SkyNews reported.

As the polls opened, Rousseff paid tribute to the outgoing Brazilian President Ignacio Lula da Silva, who handpicked her for his successor.

"President Lula, obviously, won't be a presence within my cabinet. But I will talk with the president and I will have a very close and strong relationship with him. Nobody in this country will separate me from President Lula," Rousseff said.

The outgoing president has been her political mentor in the contest with her major opponent Jose Serra.

The latest surveys have shown support for Rousseff at 49-52%, while Serra has 38-40%. In the first round on October 3, Rousseff gained some 47% of the votes, while her rival got 32,6%.

If Dilma wins the runoffs, she will become the first female president of Brazil.

"I am going to work for a united Brazil, I am going to work for all Brazilians without exceptions," she said.

Serra, who is a former governor of Sao Paulo, has stated that the elections were far from over and criticized Rousseff's reliance on Lula.

"We know that nobody can govern in the place of another. Whoever is elected has to govern – the outsourcing of a government does not exist," he said, as cited by SkyNews.

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