Brazil: Lula re-elected as Flávio Bolsonaro disputes the result
· BehindLines newsroom
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won the second round of Brazil's presidential election on Sunday 25 October. According to the Superior Electoral Court's count, cited by AP and PBS NewsHour, the incumbent took 51.76% of valid votes against 48.24% for Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. With every ballot counted, the gap was close to 4.4 million votes, according to AP.
The outcome reverses the first round of 4 October, when Flávio Bolsonaro came first with about 47% of the vote to Lula's 45%. According to CNBC, it is the first time since Brazil returned to direct presidential elections in 1989 that a candidate who trailed in the first round has won the runoff. Lula, who is 80, will begin a fourth, non-consecutive term on 5 January 2027.
Election night was shaped by a last-minute decision. A Supreme Court justice extended voting by two hours. France 24 says the move followed an appeal by Lula's campaign, which pointed to delays in transporting voters. AP describes scenes of confusion at polling stations across the country.
That is the point the losing candidate is relying on. In a short statement reported by CBS News, Flávio Bolsonaro called the extension "unacceptable", said he could not recognise the result and announced he would seek to have the vote annulled. At the time of these reports, he had not conceded.
The runoff ends a highly polarised campaign, in a country where the 2022 election had already pitted Lula against the Bolsonaro camp. The official result is proclaimed by the electoral courts; any challenge brought by the loser will have to be examined by the competent judges. For Brazilians, the main immediate consequence is continuity at the head of the federal government, with a new term starting in January. The sources consulted do not yet indicate how the legal challenge will proceed.