Brazil’s Lula wins runoff as Bolsonaro vows annulment

Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court reported that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won the Oct. 25 presidential runoff, defeating Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro with 51.79% of valid ballots to Bolsonaro’s 48.21%. Bolsonaro rejected the result and said he would seek to annul the election, citing a two-hour extension of voting that both campaigns had requested for different reasons. The court reported Lula received 64,256,232 votes and Bolsonaro 59,826,041. The outcome reversed Bolsonaro’s lead in the first round, held Oct. 4, when he received 47.03% and Lula 45.16%, according to the court. Lula is set to begin a fourth, nonconsecutive presidential term on Jan. 5, 2027. Bolsonaro said the extension made the result impossible to recognize and that he would pursue annulment. The legal route for such a challenge had not been identified in the reports. His stated intention is not itself a court filing or evidence that the result was invalid. Both campaigns had sought extra voting time, though for different reasons. Lula’s campaign cited transportation problems in São Paulo and Salvador; Bolsonaro’s campaign cited heavy rain in southern Brazil. The extension was ordered shortly before...