Brazil has voted for continuity, but the election has not healed the country’s political divide. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was re-elected president on 25 October, defeating conservative Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Lula secured a fourth non-consecutive term, overturning the first-round result, when Bolsonaro had finished ahead.
Election night was also marked by an unprecedented decision: voting hours were extended by two hours at polling stations that were still open. Flávio Bolsonaro has said he will challenge the result and seek to have the election annulled. The dispute is now moving towards the courts, while official figures confirm Lula’s victory.
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Lula turns the race around in the runoff
The incumbent president received 64’256’232 votes, or 51.79% of valid ballots. Flávio Bolsonaro won 59’826’041 votes, or 48.21% — a gap of around 4.43 million votes. The result is also historically significant: Lula recovered from his first-round deficit, in what post-election reports described as the first time a candidate who finished second in the first round won Brazil’s presidential runoff.
The result does not erase the strength of the opposition. Almost one in two voters backed Bolsonaro, underlining the depth of Brazil’s political divide. Lula pledged to govern for all Brazilians and defend the country’s national sovereignty. According to the Associated Press, his new term is due to begin on 5 January 2027.
Two candidates, two visions for Brazil
Lula, 80, the leader of the Workers’ Party (PT), campaigned on defending social programmes, minimum-wage increases above inflation and public support for lower-income families. He also highlighted his experience in government and Brazil’s independence in international affairs, amid trade tensions with the United States. However, the cost of living, household debt and public security remained difficult issues for the incumbent.
Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, a senator from the Liberal Party (PL), sought to build on the political legacy of his father Jair, the former president and a central figure on Brazil’s right. His campaign appealed to conservative voters, concerns about crime and frustration with the government. After finishing first in the opening round, he gained support from several centre-right and right-wing parties. The two candidates also clashed over corruption, public spending, welfare and relations with Washington.
The campaign: living costs, crime and corruption claims
In the final days of the campaign, purchasing power and crime dominated the debate. A Quaest poll cited by Reuters in August found that more than two-thirds of respondents felt their purchasing power had declined compared with the previous year. Other concerns included household debt, public finances and the future of social programmes.
The final televised debate, broadcast by Globo on 23 October, featured personal attacks and mutual accusations of corruption, alongside arguments about welfare and public security. Foreign policy also became part of the campaign, particularly because of trade tensions with the United States and Brazil’s relationships with Washington and Beijing.
Why were voting hours extended by two hours?
Voting was originally scheduled to end at 5 p.m. Brasília time. Shortly before the deadline, Supreme Federal Court Justice Cristiano Zanin ordered voting to continue until 7 p.m., following reports of public transport difficulties and weather-related problems in some areas. The emergency decision required operational clarification because many electronic voting machines had already been closed by the time it was announced.
The order did not mean that every closed polling station reopened: it applied to polling stations that were still open, while votes already recorded remained valid. The president of Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court, Kassio Nunes Marques, later said the late decision created technical difficulties and a temporary backlog of vote records waiting to be processed. The electoral court said the extension did not prevent the count from being completed.
Turnout: more than 128 million people voted
More than 158 million Brazilians were eligible to vote in the runoff. According to the electoral court’s post-election report, around 128.2 million people cast ballots, with turnout at approximately 80.8% and abstention at 19.2%. That was lower than the 21.08% abstention rate recorded in the first round, despite logistical problems reported in some cities and the controversy over polling hours.
In the final count, Lula won 51.79% of valid votes against Bolsonaro’s 48.21%. The margin of more than four million votes is central to the dispute over the proposed legal challenge. It does not settle the legal question by itself, but any successful challenge would need to establish concrete grounds for arguing that the contested decision could have affected the outcome. Meanwhile, rumors are circulating about alleged instances of electoral corruption by Lula’s party.
Bolsonaro plans a legal challenge: what happens next?
Flávio Bolsonaro has said he will not recognise the result and will seek to annul the election, arguing that the change to voting hours undermined equal treatment for voters. He also criticised Zanin’s role, pointing out that the judge had previously worked as Lula’s lawyer. These are the defeated candidate’s allegations, not irregularities that a court has already established.
The challenge will need to be formally submitted and assessed by the relevant authorities. A controversial decision alone is not enough to overturn an election: the campaign will need to set out its legal grounds and evidence for such an exceptional remedy. Reuters reported that analysts considered the challenge unlikely to succeed, given the size of Lula’s margin and the fact that Bolsonaro’s own campaign had sought extensions in some areas affected by heavy rain. The electoral authorities will nevertheless have to consider any formal filings under the applicable procedures.
Brazil enters a new phase, but the political fight is not over
In the coming hours, attention will focus on Bolsonaro’s announced legal action, the electoral authorities’ response and reactions from political leaders. Announcing a challenge does not automatically suspend the result: the next steps will depend on the formal filings and the decisions of the competent bodies.
Lula’s victory opens a new chapter in a country where he will have to deal with a Congress that has shifted to the right and a society divided over public security, welfare, government spending and foreign policy. The runoff is over, but the political contest continues: how the challenge is handled, along with the re-elected president’s first moves, will help shape Brazil’s institutional climate in the months ahead.
