Lula wins Brazil’s fourth term with 51.8%
Brazil’s electoral court declared Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva the winner of the presidential runoff, with 51.8% of the vote against Flávio Bolsonaro’s 48.2%, according to CNBC. Bolsonaro refused to concede and said he would challenge the result over a last-minute, two-hour extension of polling hours; both campaigns had requested extra time, citing transport problems and severe weather.
Bottom line — Lula takes office on 5 January 2027, while Flávio Bolsonaro’s annulment bid faces a high legal bar.
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Lula overturned a 2.2 million-vote deficit from the first round; CNBC calls this the first such comeback since Brazil returned to direct presidential elections in 1989.
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The extension was ordered by Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin three minutes before scheduled closing time; the Associated Press reported that some polling stations had already closed.
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Electoral court president Kassio Nunes Marques said the extension did not affect the result, according to Fortune.
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João Pedro Padua, a law professor at Fluminense Federal University, told Fortune Bolsonaro would need to show the extension affected voters’ ability to express their will.
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Lula’s fourth non-consecutive term runs from 2027 to 2030, according to CNBC; his Workers’ Party faces a Congress where Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party holds its largest bench in decades.