Lula Secures Historic Fourth Term in Brazil After Runoff Vote

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has won a historic fourth term after defeating right‑wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro in a closely contested presidential run‑off on October 25, 2026. Lula secured 51.75% of the votes against Bolsonaro’s 48.25%.

Bolsonaro has refused to concede defeat and has called for the election to be annulled.

Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin ruled three minutes before polls were due to close that they should stay open for two more hours. Both candidates had asked for the extension; Lula’s team cited problems with buses that take people to polling stations in São Paulo and Salvador, while Bolsonaro’s team cited heavy rain in southern Brazil.

The ruling delayed the count by two hours. In Brasília, most volunteers who oversaw the count at a school left 15 to 20 minutes after polls closed, once they had passed the figures to the electoral authorities. At a polling station in Rio de Janeiro, the voting machines had been switched off minutes after the scheduled close and could not be turned back on.

Lula’s new term starts on January 5, 2027.