Lula wins Brazil runoff; Bolsonaro rejects the result

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Brazil’s presidential runoff on Sunday, Oct. 25, taking about 51.8 per cent of the vote and a lead of nearly 4.4 million votes over Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, who refused to concede.

The result gives Lula, 80, a fourth non-consecutive term and reverses the first round, which Bolsonaro won on Oct. 4 with 47.03 per cent to Lula’s 45.16 per cent. Brazil’s electoral court reported the margin with 100 per cent of the vote counted, CBS News reported.

Figures carried by The Statesman, citing the electoral court, put Lula at 51.78 per cent of valid votes and Bolsonaro at 48.22 per cent, a gap of 3.56 percentage points. Lula is the first candidate since direct elections resumed in 1989 to lose a first round and win the runoff, the same report said.

Bolsonaro did not accept the outcome. “It’s impossible to recognize the results of the election in the context of these things that happened,” he said, according to an Associated Press report published by The Wire. The AP said he asked for the results to be annulled and accused Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin of “changing the rules of the game in the middle of the game.”

The dispute centres on Zanin’s decision to extend voting by two hours. He ruled three minutes before polls were due to close, at the request of both campaigns. Lula’s side cited bus problems in São Paulo and Salvador, and Bolsonaro’s cited heavy rain in the south, the AP reported. CBS reported that a state electoral judge in Bahia said at least 75 buses could not leave their garages and ordered the arrest of Salvador’s mobility secretary. Bolsonaro ally Nikolas Ferreira noted that Zanin is Lula’s former lawyer.

Lula said: “This was a defeat for denialism and lies,” and, “This country will not accept being anyone’s backyard,” CBS reported. He had argued before the vote that a Bolsonaro presidency would let the United States control Brazil. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he was watching the election but declined to endorse a candidate, according to CBS. The Trump administration has imposed high tariffs on Brazilian exports.

The campaign turned on the cost of living, crime and corruption. Bolsonaro, whose Liberal Party ran on public security and lower food prices, is under investigation over about US$12 million he admitted accepting from former banker Daniel Vorcaro to produce a film about his father, CBS reported. Lula faces a Congress in which conservative parties hold substantial influence, as well as public debt and household costs, The Statesman reported. Bloomberg’s headline on Monday said Brazilian markets were bracing for a rout after what it called Lula’s improbable win.

For Canada, the outcome keeps one major trade negotiation on its current course. Brazil leads the Mercosur side of talks with Ottawa, and Foreign Minister Anita Anand has said she wants the deal concluded “ideally before the end of 2026.” Canada’s merchandise trade with the bloc was $15.8 billion in 2024, made up of $3.1 billion in exports and $12.8 billion in imports, according to our earlier report citing Government of Canada figures published by The Canadian Press. We did not find a public statement from Prime Minister Mark Carney or Anand on the result as of Monday morning.

Canadians in Brazil can check the current advisory at travel.gc.ca. Our previous coverage looked at how the final Datafolha poll had the race tied at 50-50.

Lula’s term is due to begin on Jan. 5, 2027. Whether Bolsonaro files a formal challenge with the electoral court or the Supreme Court is the next thing to watch. CBS reported that the extension of voting may trigger legal action by Bolsonaro, and none of the reports we read described a filing.

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Via CBS News, The Statesman and the Associated Press. Developing story; we will update this report as the electoral court and Bolsonaro’s campaign respond.