Flávio Bolsonaro rejects Brazil runoff result and says he will seek annulment after Lula wins fourth presidential term

Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro refused to concede defeat in Sunday’s presidential runoff after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva secured a fourth non-consecutive term, saying his legal team would ask the courts to annul the election.

“It is impossible to recognize the election results in the context of how these things happened,” Bolsonaro said after the result was confirmed. “We are going to use our legal team. I am going to request the annulment of these elections.”

Bolsonaro focused his challenge on a last-minute decision by Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin to extend voting by two hours in polling places that were still open. He accused Zanin, a former lawyer for Lula, of changing “the rules of the game” during the vote and described the episode as a “dirty trick.”

The extension followed complaints that some voters were struggling to reach polling stations because of transport problems and severe weather. Both campaigns had sought extensions in parts of the country, although for different reasons.

With all votes counted, Brazil’s electoral court gave Lula 51.8% of the vote, a lead of nearly 4.4 million votes over Bolsonaro. Electoral court president Kassio Nunes Marques said the extension had caused no change in the result.

Bolsonaro said there was “a lot to be clarified” before Brazil accepted the outcome and vowed to continue fighting politically. “I will not give up on my Brazil,” he said.