Bolsonaro: 'It is impossible to recognise this election'

Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has refused to recognise the outcome of Brazil's presidential runoff, saying his campaign will ask for the result to be thrown out. Speaking from Brasilia shortly after the count gave President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva victory, he kept his remarks brief and said it was difficult to acknowledge the results given the current context.

The refusal comes with the Superior Electoral Court's figures standing at 51.79% for Lula against 48.21% for his right-wing rival.

The result he contests

The runoff, held on October 25, 2026, ended with Lula ahead by just over four million votes, according to the Superior Electoral Court. The count itself swung repeatedly through the evening:

• •Flavio Bolsonaro led from the moment 13% of ballots were tallied, at one point holding 50.04% of the vote
• •With 20% counted, he stood at 50.41% to Lula's 49.59%; at the halfway mark Lula had moved ahead with 50.14%, and with 70% counted he held 50.92% to 49.08%
• •With only 5% counted, Lula had briefly led with 51.16% as the court began counting votes cast abroad
• •Abstention fell by three million votes between rounds, from 33.4 million on October 4 to 30.4 million in the runoff, per the Superior Electoral Court

Lula's comeback was itself unprecedented: in the October 4 first round he had trailed with 45% against Flavio Bolsonaro's 47%, and no candidate since Brazil's return to democracy had previously lost the first round and gone on to win the runoff. Geographically the divide held from the first round, with northern states backing Lula and southern states backing Bolsonaro.

The court decisions Bolsonaro's side points to

The dispute centres on a late ruling by Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin, who ordered voting in the runoff extended by two hours, until 7:00 p.m. Brasilia time (10:00 p.m. GMT), on October 25. The order granted an appeal filed by Lula's campaign, which alleged delays in voter transportation.

The decision landed at around 5:00 p.m. Brasilia time (8:00 p.m. GMT), just as polling stations were supposed to close, and some had already shut - producing confusion on the ground. The Superior Electoral Court responded that voting would continue only in locations where it had not concluded by 5 p.m., and paused the count while the matter was settled.

Flavio Bolsonaro's campaign filed its own extension request, asking that a two-hour extension apply in 17 municipalities across the states of São Paulo, Paraná and Santa Catarina, blaming rains and flooding; that appeal went to the court's president, Kassio Nunes Marques.

Lula claims the win as annulment looms

Lula, who has won a fourth non-consecutive term, claimed victory in a speech from São Paulo in which he thanked the Brazilian people for their generosity and the youth who took to the streets to defend democracy.

The president also pledged to govern for all Brazilians. Flavio Bolsonaro's side, for its part, says it will request the annulment of the election, while the runoff result stands at 51.79% for Lula to 48.21% for Bolsonaro per the Superior Electoral Court.