Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been declared the winner of a fourth term in Sunday’s presidential runoff, but rival Flávio Bolsonaro immediately rejected the results and said he would seek to have the election annulled.
With all votes counted, Lula received 51.8% of the valid votes to Bolsonaro’s 48.2%, a margin of roughly 4.4 million votes, according to Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court.
Bolsonaro, a senator and son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, had finished ahead in the Oct. 4 first round with 47.03% of the vote to Lula’s 45.16%. Neither candidate secured a majority, forcing the runoff.
Voting was extended by two hours after Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin ordered polls to remain open until 7 p.m. Brasília time. Zanin, who previously served as Lula’s criminal defense lawyer, issued the order following requests from both campaigns. Lula’s team cited transportation problems in cities including São Paulo and Salvador. Bolsonaro’s team cited heavy rains in southern states.
Lula’s camp first asked the Superior Electoral Court, the body charged with overseeing federal elections, for the nationwide extension, then quickly bypassed it by going directly to Zanin at the Supreme Federal Court. The justice ordered the polls kept open within minutes, before any TSE ruling.
“It is impossible to recognize the election results… we will use our legal team, we will request the annulment of these elections,” Bolsonaro said.
