Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has claimed a fourth term in office after defeating Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, in a closely contested presidential election.
According to the final count released by Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Lula received 51.79% of valid votes, compared with Bolsonaro’s 48.21%, a margin of more than 4.4 million votes.
Speaking to supporters in São Paulo, Lula expressed gratitude to voters and pledged to increase public participation in government decision-making.
Bolsonaro has declined to concede defeat and announced plans to challenge the election result, alleging improper judicial intervention in the voting process. His objections centre on a decision by Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin to extend voting hours nationwide by two hours following reports that transport disruptions had prevented some voters from reaching polling stations.
Bolsonaro argued that the extension, announced shortly after the original 5pm closing time, amounted to an inappropriate change in electoral procedures.
According to Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, senior judicial officials have acknowledged ‘procedural shortcomings’ in the handling of the extension but have ruled out annulling the election.
The dispute raises the prospect of further legal proceedings as Lula prepares to begin his fourth presidential term.
The two-round system is completely normal in Brazil — it’s the standard constitutional mechanism in place since 1989. If no candidate wins more than 50% of valid votes in the first round, the top two advance to a runoff on the last Sunday of October.
What was not normal in 2026 was the outcome: Lula became the first candidate since 1989 to win the runoff after losing the first round.
In every previous runoff, the first-round leader went on to win the presidency. So the process of two rounds is routine; the upset was historic.
The first-round abstention rate of 21.08% (33.4 million voters) was the highest in a Brazilian presidential first round since 1998.
The runoff saw roughly 2.8 million additional voters turn out, a factor widely credited with helping Lula da Silva overturn his first-round deficit and win a fourth term.
As of the October 25, 2026 enrollment deadline, approximately 307,991 eligible voters in New Zealand failed to register.
George Galloway heils da Silva a hero
Mind you he heiled Nelson Mandela a hero also
Something interesting about da Silva
In 1964, at age 19, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva lost his left pinky finger in a workplace accident while working as a metalworker and press operator in a car parts factory in São Bernardo do Campo, near São Paulo.
The pinky finger (also called the little finger, pinkie, or baby finger) is the fifth digit of the human hand — the smallest and most ulnar (outermost) finger, sitting next to the ring finger and opposite the thumb.
A press broke, he reached in to fix it, and his finger was crushed. He reportedly had to run to several hospitals before receiving medical attention, where a doctor simply amputated the finger.
The incident became a defining part of his identity — he turned it into a symbol of working-class struggle that fueled his rise as a union leader. It was also the source of the “nine fingers” insult that Flávio Bolsonaro used against him in the final debate on October 23, which backfired spectacularly and is widely credited with helping Lula win the runoff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXgkuM2NhYI&list=RDlXgkuM2NhYI&start_radio=1
Just like NZ two flavours of globalism…..
A decision by Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin to extend voting hours nationwide by two hours, an inappropriate change in electoral procedures, while judicial officials have acknowledged ‘procedural shortcomings’ in the handling of the extension but have ruled out annulling the election. Just another “rigged democratic election result” to ensure the correct bought and paid for political puppet wins for the powers that ought not be.