Lula wins Brazil election by 4.4 million votes as Bolsonaro's party accepts result

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva secured a decisive victory in Sunday's presidential runoff, defeating Senator Flavio Bolsonaro by a margin of more than 4.4 million votes. Lula received over 64.25 million votes, while Bolsonaro garnered 59.83 million. The result stands despite ongoing legal disputes and international commentary regarding the final hours of voting.

On Monday, Valdemar Costa Neto, leader of the right-wing Liberal Party, issued a statement confirming that his party recognized the official outcome. "We recognise the presidential election results," Costa Neto stated. "But we believe the issues raised need to be properly clarified." This admission came as the party moved to consolidate its position following the defeat of its presidential candidate.

The central point of contention remains a two-hour extension to voting hours granted by Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin. Polls originally scheduled to close at 5 p.m. Brasilia time remained open until 7 p.m. Zanin approved the extension after both campaigns filed petitions. Bolsonaro's team cited heavy rains in southern Brazil that hindered voter access, while Lula's allies argued that reduced public transportation services in some cities aimed to suppress turnout among working-class voters.

Bolsonaro has not formally conceded the race. In a speech to supporters on Sunday night, he labeled the results "unacceptable." He accused Zanin of altering the rules mid-match, noting that Lula appointed Zanin to the high court in 2023 and that Zanin previously served as Lula's personal lawyer. "With a simple stroke of a pen, at the request of a former partner, [Zanin] changed the rules of the game mid-match," Bolsonaro said.

Experts have questioned the impact of the extension on the final tally. Pedro Burgos, a professor at the Brazilian educational institute Insper, calculated that the additional two hours resulted in approximately 35,000 extra votes nationwide. This figure represents less than 0.03 percent of the total vote count, a fraction of Lula's 4.4 million-vote lead.

US President Donald Trump weighed in on the election on Monday, describing the process as "rigged." "Elections have to be indisputable and it looked very bad to me," Trump told reporters. "It looked like another rigged election, frankly." Despite his comments, Trump said he did not take sides in the contest and did not indicate that the US would intervene on behalf of the losing candidate.

Bolsonaro's stance echoes the conduct of his father, Jair Bolsonaro, who served as president from 2019 to 2023. After losing to Lula in 2022, the former president refused to acknowledge the result and was later charged with plotting a coup. Jair Bolsonaro is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence on those charges. He is also barred from public office for eight years following a court finding that he misused his position to spread misinformation about the election.

Reports from the Brazilian news outlet Folha de S Paulo indicate that political allies and legal advisers have urged Flavio Bolsonaro to drop his quest to annul the election. They cited the large margin of victory and validation by the Supreme Court and election authorities. Bolsonaro stated on Monday that federal police had asked him to surrender his passports, a move driven by speculation that he might leave the country. He said he would comply and had no plans to depart.

"To withstand the chaos, I'm going to organise the opposition," Bolsonaro said. The Liberal Party's acceptance of the results marks a procedural step toward the transfer of power, even as the senator maintains that the circumstances of the vote require further legal explanation.