Lula wins a record fourth term in Brazil with 51.79%; Flávio Bolsonaro refuses to concede

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been reelected president of Brazil. With 100% of ballots counted, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) gave him 51.79% of valid votes (64,256,232) against 48.21% (59,826,041) for Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro — a margin of about 4.4 million votes.

A comeback after the first round

Bolsonaro had led the first round on 4 October with 47.03% to Lula’s 45.16%. According to g1, Lula gained more than 10.3 million votes between the rounds, and abstention fell to 19.21%, the lowest since 2006. The BBC notes that Lula is the first president since the return of democracy in 1988 to win after losing the first round, and the first in Brazilian history to secure a fourth term, which runs until 2030. He turns 81 on Tuesday.

Dispute over the result

Voting was extended by two hours on Sunday evening after both campaigns made requests, citing a lack of buses in São Paulo and Bahia on one side and heavy rain on the other. Bolsonaro has refused to recognise the result and called for it to be annulled. Supreme Court President Kassio Nunes Marques confirmed Lula’s victory and said the extension did not affect the count; electoral law experts told BBC Brasil an annulment is very unlikely. Lula told supporters the vote was a “loss for negativity, lies”.