SÃO PAULO — Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won re-election as Brazil’s president, beating senator Flávio Bolsonaro in Sunday’s runoff by nearly 4.4 million votes.
With all votes counted, the electoral court gave Lula 51.79% to Bolsonaro’s 48.21%, The Guardian reported. Lula, who turns 81 on Tuesday, is due to begin his fourth non-consecutive term on January 5, 2027.
Bolsonaro quickly refused to concede and said his lawyers would seek to annul the result. He pointed to Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin’s ruling, three minutes before polls were due to close, to keep voting open two more hours. Both campaigns had asked for the extension, but Bolsonaro noted that Zanin is Lula’s former lawyer and accused him of “changing the rules of the game in the middle of the game.”
It is not clear whether the complaint could meet the legal bar to overturn the vote, the Associated Press reported.
“This was a defeat for denialism and lies,” Lula told supporters in São Paulo, according to CBC News. “This country will not accept being anyone’s backyard.”
Bolsonaro is the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence for attempting a coup after losing to Lula in 2022.
Sources: CBC News / AP, The Guardian
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