Brazil: Lula wins runoff against Flávio Bolsonaro and heads for historic fourth term

Brasilia, Brazil — Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won this Sunday's presidential runoff against Senator Flávio Bolsonaro and is headed for a historic fourth term, according to data from Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) released tonight.

With 98.27% of polling stations counted, Lula held 51.75% of valid votes against 48.25% for Bolsonaro, a 3.5-point margin the TSE considers mathematically irreversible with the remaining votes still to be counted, AlbertoNews reported based on official data. The count also recorded 1.11% blank votes and 2.12% null votes.

A Datafolha projection published by Folha de S.Paulo at 8:46 p.m. Brasília time had already declared the president the winner when the count was around 77% of polling stations, estimating that his rival could no longer catch him.

The victory completes a comeback from the October 4 first round, in which Flávio Bolsonaro finished first with 47.03% of valid votes against 45.16% for Lula. Sunday's count saw several lead changes: Lula started ahead with 0.25% counted, Bolsonaro moved in front at around 14%, and the president regained the lead near the halfway mark of the count, then widened his advantage.

The day was marked by a two-hour extension of voting ordered by the Supreme Court after complaints from Lula's campaign about failures in free voter transportation, and by a 19.5% abstention rate, nearly two points lower than in the first round. Once the favorable results emerged, celebrations began at the Workers' Party bunker in São Paulo.

If the official result is confirmed, Lula will take office for his fourth term on January 1, 2027.

Photo: Archivo A Lo Claro

Source: AlbertoNews, Paysandú Online and Brazil's Superior Electoral Court