Lula Prevails in Brazil as Bolsonaro Rejects the Verdict
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a second term with 51.8% of the vote, while Flávio Bolsonaro refused to concede and demanded the election be annulled after the court extended voting by two hours.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was re-elected president of Brazil on Sunday, securing 51.8% of the vote and a lead of roughly 4.4 million votes over his opponent Flávio Bolsonaro, according to the electoral court after every ballot had been counted. The result followed the Supreme Court’s order to keep polling stations open for an additional two hours after requests from both candidates.
Flávio Bolsonaro refused to concede, denouncing the extension of voting hours as unprecedented and pressing for the election results to be annulled.
"The move to extend voting hours is unprecedented," Bolsonaro said, adding that the results were "impossible to accept."
Lula thanked voters and pledged to respect all Brazilians regardless of gender or religion. He also restated his commitment to national sovereignty.
"Either the homeland remains free or we die for Brazil," Lula said.
The runoff ended in an atmosphere of confusion at polling places, with some stations reporting technical issues after the original closing time. The decision to keep polls open was made minutes before the scheduled deadline by Justice Cristiano Zanin, who cited transportation problems in São Paulo and Salvador and heavy rains in the south as reasons for the extension.
Supporters of both candidates gathered in major cities after the announcement. In São Paulo, Lula was seen celebrating with his wife, while in Rio de Janeiro, confrontations broke out between supporters of the two camps.
The outcome leaves Brazil and Mexico as the two most populous Latin American nations led by left-of-centre presidents, preserving a political contrast with several right-leaning governments in the region.