The result, announced by Brazil’s electoral court on Sunday, gives Lula a fourth non-consecutive term and makes him the first candidate since the restoration of democracy to overturn a first-round defeat in a runoff.
Bolsonaro refused to recognize the result and said his legal team would seek to annul the election. He argued that the decision to extend voting hours altered the rules during the vote, while also pointing to Cristiano Zanin’s previous work as Lula’s lawyer and his appointment to the Supreme Court by the president. Bolsonaro had himself requested an extension because of heavy rain in southern Brazil, while Lula’s campaign sought additional time after reporting transportation problems affecting voters in nine states.
Zanin ordered voting extended until 7 p. M., but later clarified that the measure applied only to polling places where voting machines had not yet been closed. The decision came three minutes before the scheduled 5 p. Closing time, and some stations had already shut down before officials received the instruction. Vote counting was delayed for two hours, while polling places in Brasília and Rio de Janeiro closed shortly after the original deadline. Electoral court president Kassio Nunes Marques said the extension did not affect the result.
Lula’s victory reversed a first-round deficit of more than 2. 2 million votes and produced a final margin of nearly 4. 4 million. In São Paulo, he told supporters that the election represented a defeat for denialism and pledged to change the way the country is governed, broaden public participation and govern for all Brazilians. He also said his campaign had overcome foreign influence through digital platforms and argued that those platforms should be regulated. Lula is scheduled to begin his new term on Jan. 5, 2027, while Bolsonaro’s proposed legal challenge remains unresolved and faces the requirement that he demonstrate a legally significant effect on voters’ ability to express their will.