Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT, the Workers' Party), was re-elected president of Brazil in the run-off held on Sunday, 25 October. The result was declared by the president of the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE, Brazil's superior electoral court), Justice Kassio Nunes Marques, at a press conference at the court's headquarters in Brasília in the early hours of Monday.
Lula received 64,256,232 votes, or 51.79% of valid votes. Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, of the Partido Liberal (PL), took 59,826,041 votes, or 48.21%. The gap between the two was 4,430,191 votes.
It is Lula's fourth term. He governed Brazil from 2003 to 2010 and returned to office in 2023. The inauguration is set for 1 January 2027.
Turnout was higher than in the first round
Brazil's electorate numbers more than 158 million people, and about 128.2 million cast ballots. Abstention came in at roughly 19.2%, down from the 21.08% recorded in the first round on 4 October.
The two candidates' votes add up to 124.08 million valid votes. The difference from total turnout points to some 4.1 million blank and spoiled ballots — a figure close to the margin that separated the two contenders.
Nunes Marques used the press conference to review the vote. "We held the most inclusive elections in the history of the Brazilian Republic," he said. On the decision that stretched voting hours, the justice was more measured: "Extending an election is possible, but it has to be thought through and structured." He also said the electoral authorities would look into complaints about a lack of transport for voters: "Any insufficiency of transport will always be investigated and confronted by the electoral justice system."
"I have to govern for 215 million Brazilians"
In his first remarks after the win was confirmed, Lula struck a conciliatory tone and said the electoral contest ended there. "We no longer have an opponent. I have to govern for 215 million Brazilians," he said. He added: "Nobody is obliged to like the president-elect, but this president was elected to govern for everyone."
Lula promised to seek dialogue with the Congress that takes office in 2027 — where the PL won the largest caucuses in both chambers — and signalled that regulation of the large digital platforms will have a place in his new term.
The loser contests the extended voting hours
Flávio Bolsonaro spoke in Brasília and said he does not recognise the result. "It is impossible to recognise the results of the elections in the context in which these things happened," said the senator, who focused his criticism on the court decision that extended voting until 7pm nationwide. "I will not accept that the rules of the game were changed in the middle of the game," he said.
The senator announced he will go to court. "We are going to use our legal department, we are going to ask for the annulment of these elections," he said. He also alleged that PL inspectors were removed from the secure tallying room during the pause in the count — the TSE halted the release of figures with 0.25% of electronic ballot boxes counted, after Justice Cristiano Zanin extended voting hours. As of publication, no annulment suit had been filed.
With information from the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral and Times Brasil/CNBC Brasil.
