Lula claims fourth term with 64.2 million votes in runoff

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won 64.2 million votes on Sunday to secure a fourth term as president of Brazil. His opponent, Flávio Bolsonaro, received 59.8 million votes. The final tally gave Lula 51.79 percent of the total vote compared to 48.21 percent for Bolsonaro. The margin of victory exceeded four million votes.

This result reversed the outcome of the first round held on October 4. In that election, Bolsonaro led Lula by two points. Pollsters had projected a technical tie for the second round and had not predicted a lead of nearly four points for Lula. The gap exceeded the margin by which Lula defeated Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 election.

Lula framed the campaign as a choice between a democratic model and the authoritarianism associated with the Bolsonaro family. Jair Bolsonaro, the father of the defeated candidate, is serving a 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup to remain in power after his 2022 defeat. In his victory speech, Lula thanked young people for defending democracy and older voters for turning out to reduce the high abstention rates seen in the first round.

The President also positioned the vote as a rejection of influence from United States President Donald Trump. He stated that Brazil does not accept being a backyard to any power but wishes to remain central in global discussions rather than peripheral.

Flávio Bolsonaro refused to accept the defeat immediately after the results were announced. He stated that he would request the annulment of the election in the courts. The basis for the challenge is a judicial order to extend voting hours by two hours nationwide. The order came from Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin, a former lawyer for Lula, and was announced one minute after the standard closing time.

The PT party, Lula's Workers Party, argued that the extension caused confusion because many polling stations did not receive the order in time. They claimed that right-wing controlled cities failed to provide enough free bus service for voters, disproportionately affecting poorer citizens who tend to vote left. Kassio Nunes Marques, president of the Superior Electoral Court, said the delay caused technical, operational, and security difficulties.

Bolsonara called the situation unacceptable and a total violation of the right to equality. Flávio Bolsonaro said in a press statement in Brasilia that it was inexplicable that the rules were changed again by Lula's friends in the Supreme Court. Despite these complaints, Hugo Motta, president of the Chamber of Deputies, and Davi Alcolumbre, president of the Senate, both allies of Lula, recognized the victory.

Celebrations erupted in cities across Brazil, with the largest gathering on Avenida Paulista in São Paulo. Tens of thousands of people chanted that a dictatorship would never return. Lula, who is nearing his 81st birthday, took to social media for the first time during the campaign. He begins his new term Monday and must negotiate with a Congress that is the most right-leaning in the country's history.