Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil's Ricardo Berzoini is ``close'' to winning a run-off vote for the presidency of the ruling Workers' Party, preliminary results showed.

Berzoini, the Workers' Party secretary-general, had 51.6 percent of the votes, compared with 48.4 percent for Raul Pont, with 97 percent of the votes counted, the party said on its Web site.

The party said that 223,700 votes have been counted out of an estimated 230,000 total ballots cast. The winner will replace acting President Tarso Genro, who assumed the post three months ago amid a congressional investigation over alleged corruption in the party. The party has said it will conduct internal probes to uncover any wrongdoing.

To contact the reporter on this story: Guillermo Parra-Bernal in Lima at gparra@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 11, 2005 18:45 EDT