Flávio Bolsonaro rejects Lula's runoff win and seeks annulment of the vote

Lula declared winner

Brazil's Supreme Electoral Court declared Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva the winner of the runoff held on 25 October, with 51.74% of the vote against 48.26% for Flávio Bolsonaro in preliminary figures. An earlier count reported by Süddeutsche Zeitung put Lula at 51.75% once almost all votes had been tallied, while El País described a gap of about four million votes. Lula, 80, was elected to a fourth term, which Handelsblatt says makes him the first Brazilian president chosen democratically four times. His rival, Flávio Bolsonaro, is 45, a senator for the Liberal Party (PL) and the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Lula da Silva51.74%

Flávio Bolsonaro48.26%

Lula da Silva

51.74 %

Flávio Bolsonaro

48.26 %

Data from the article text

Voting extended on election day

Polling stations were due to close at 17:00 local time, but at 17:01 on 25 October Supreme Court judge Cristiano Zanin ordered voting extended by two hours nationwide, to 19:00, according to Europa Press and Handelsblatt. The request came from Lula's campaign, which said many voters had been unable to vote because public transport had broken down. Lula's campaign first asked the Superior Electoral Court, whose president, Kássio Nunes Marques, did not respond, before turning to the Supreme Court. Bolsonaro's campaign had asked for a shorter extension in only five states, São Paulo, Santa Catarina, Paraná, Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul, citing heavy rain, flooding and power cuts. Europa Press reported that the ruling halted the initial count and went ahead despite the explicit opposition of the Electoral Public Prosecutor's Office, while ABC reports that Nunes Marques later ratified the decision.

El País said the change reached many polling stations too late, so some voters could not cast ballots while others could. It also noted that Brazil's electronic voting machines cannot be reactivated once closed, leaving the officials of more than half a million polling stations without answers for a time.

Bolsonaro refuses to recognise the result

Flávio Bolsonaro said it was impossible to recognise the result and that he would take legal action to have the election annulled. He described the events of 25 October as unacceptable and accused Zanin, whom he called a former lawyer for Lula, of changing the rules during the contest. He also said it was the first time in Brazil's history that a judge had changed voting rules mid-process, and claimed that party observers had been withdrawn from the data-processing room, known as the sala cofre, once the ruling was made. ABC reported that his speech lasted less than five minutes and that he urged supporters not to give up. The protest, ABC notes, sits uneasily with the fact that both campaigns had formally asked the courts for longer voting, and the outlet suggests it could become a problem for Lula in the coming days.

Reactions in Chile

Chilean President José Antonio Kast recognised Lula's victory shortly before Bolsonaro announced his legal challenge, telephoning Lula to congratulate him on a fourth term. Kast, who founded the far-right Republicano party, is close to the Bolsonaro family and had invited Flávio Bolsonaro to his inauguration on 11 March. Lula had planned to attend that handover but cancelled at the last minute, citing agenda problems. In a social media post, Kast said Chile and Brazil have much common future and pledged to work on economic integration and the fight against organised crime. Chile's government described Brasília as a strategic partner and noted that the two countries have had diplomatic ties for 190 years. Former Chilean president Gabriel Boric, who governed from 2022 to 2026, was among the first progressive leaders to celebrate Lula's win.

What remains open

Bolsonaro has said he will take legal action, but none of the articles report a filing, a court timetable or a ruling on his request. The electoral figures are preliminary, and the outlets report slightly different shares for Lula, between 51.7% and 51.79%. El País wrote that the legitimacy of the process is in question and that its consequences are still difficult to assess.