Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a fourth term as Brazil’s president in Sunday’s runoff, and his challenger, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, refused to concede and said he would ask for the result to be annulled.
With 100% of the votes counted, Brazil’s electoral court said Lula, who turns 81 soon, led by nearly 4.4 million votes and won 51.8% of the total. Bolsonaro is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, whom Lula beat in 2022.
“It is impossible to recognize the election results, given the circumstances under which things unfolded,” Bolsonaro told journalists.
What We Know So Far
Voting was extended by two hours after Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin ruled three minutes before the scheduled end of voting. He acted on requests from both candidates. Lula’s request followed problems with buses that carry voters to polls in São Paulo and Salvador, two cities that tend to favor him. Bolsonaro’s request cited heavy rain in southern Brazil, where he is favored.
The ruling delayed the count by two hours. It is unclear how many polling stations stayed open past the original 5 p.m. deadline. AP reporters saw stations in Brasília and Rio de Janeiro close shortly after it.
Bolsonaro had led Lula by more than 2.2 million votes in the first round earlier this month. Sunday’s result was the first time since the end of Brazil’s military dictatorship in 1985 that the second place finisher in the first round won the presidency.
Lula takes office for his fourth, nonconsecutive term on Jan. 5, 2027.
What Authorities Are Saying
Bolsonaro noted that Zanin is Lula’s former lawyer and accused him of “changing the rules of the game” during the game. He said he would seek annulment.
Kassio Nunes Marques, the electoral court’s president, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by Jair Bolsonaro, said the extension did not affect the results.
Lula spoke to supporters in São Paulo. “This was a defeat for denialism and lies,” he said, and pledged to respect all Brazilians regardless of gender or religion. At a hotel late Sunday, he took a conciliatory tone. “No one is obliged to like the elected president, but he was put in place to govern for everyone,” he said.
On Brazil’s place in the world, Lula said the country “will not accept being anyone’s backyard.”
Differing Accounts
The margin is given differently. Reuters said Lula won by more than 4 million votes, while the AP, citing the electoral court, said nearly 4.4 million.
The accounts also differ in how they describe the extension. Reuters described a decision by a justice appointed by Lula, made over alleged voter transport irregularities. The AP said both candidates requested it and gave each side’s reason.
Why This Matters
Analysts told Reuters that the size of the loss makes it unlikely Bolsonaro’s effort to annul the vote will succeed, and that his petition is weakened because his own campaign also sought the extension. The AP said it is unclear whether his complaint meets the legal threshold to annul the results. Law professor Joao Pedro Padua of Fluminense Federal University said there is not much legal basis, because a candidate would have to prove the extension affected voters’ ability to express their will freely.
Reuters said the refusal to concede could spark protests in a country where faith in the electoral system and in judicial independence has been strained. Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed government buildings after the 2022 election. He is serving a 27 year sentence for plotting a coup.
Lula’s win comes against a trend of victories for right of center candidates allied with Trump across Latin America, the AP and Reuters said. Reuters reported that the U.S. State Department led a campaign to return the Bolsonaros to power. Financial markets showed initial concern, with a Tokyo listed fund tracking Brazil’s Bovespa index down nearly 15% in Asia trade and analysts expecting the real to fall against the dollar.
What Happens Next
Bolsonaro can file a lawsuit with electoral authorities or the Supreme Court to seek annulment, and can ask for a recount if he has evidence of fraud, though that might not change the result. Lula will face a Congress with many Bolsonaro allies after a surge of right wing voting. “The challenges are countless,” said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper in São Paulo.
Sources: Reuters and the Associated Press
