Brazil runoff live updates: court orders two-hour voting extension as ballot count resumes
A Brazilian supreme court justice extended voting in Sunday's presidential runoff by two hours after a request from Lula's campaign, and counting began after polls officially closed at 7pm Brasília time.
Brazil runoff live updates: court orders two-hour voting extension as ballot count resumes
Supreme court justice extends voting by two hours
Supreme court justice Cristiano Zanin ordered voting in Brazil's presidential runoff on Sunday to be extended by two hours, granting a request from Lula's campaign. Polls had been set to close at 5pm Brasília time; under the ruling, voters could cast ballots until 7pm.
The campaign behind the request alleged that authorities in several cities were restricting voter access to public transportation, and there were allegations of attempted voter suppression in at least 10 states, where public transport appeared to have been severely limited.
Lula told reporters he had never before complained about an election he had been involved in, whether he won or lost.
But this time something abominable is happening.
Bolsonaro camp attacks the ruling
The extension drew immediate objections from Flávio Bolsonaro's camp. Congressman Nikolas Ferreira indicated the far right could use the extension of voting hours as grounds to challenge the election result if Lula won, and said the extension only helps whoever is losing.
Ferreira, who in the first round became the most-voted federal congressman in Brazilian history with 3.1 million votes, also accused justice Cristiano Zanin of wanting to disrupt the election with the ruling.
Bolsonaro's campaign chief, senator Rogério Marinho, called the ruling an intervention and posted:
I sincerely hope common sense prevails and that any judicial coup or administrative manoeuvre does not succeed, for the sake of democracy
Confusion as polls close and counting starts
The timing of the decision, which came shortly before the original closing time, created practical problems at polling stations:
- Some stations may already have closed, and electronic voting machines, once closed, cannot be re-opened.
- It was unclear whether people arriving after the initial deadline could vote, as usually only people already in line may vote after closing.
- Counting being underway while polls were ordered to remain open caused confusion and concerns about the integrity of the election results.
Two hours after the extension, polls officially closed in Brazil and ballot counting began.
Supporters follow the count
Hundreds of Lula supporters camped out on Paulista Avenue to watch the vote count, which started at 7pm local time. Among them was João Felipe, a 27-year-old logistics worker, who said he had always been poor and that Lula was a very important person when it came to helping people improve their lives.
Beside him, his partner Ester Almeida, 28, described the tension of the early figures.
My heart is beating a thousand beats a second but I'm confident
Across the country in Brasília, Flávio Bolsonaro followed the count from the mansion of one of his campaign coordinators in a wealthy area of the capital, with journalists kept separate from him and allied politicians. With just over 13.5% of ballots counted, he led with 50.01% of the vote to Lula's 49.99%, as an AI-generated funk track played and guests chanted.
Early count figures also pointed to a lower abstention rate than in the first round: with 24.4% of polling stations counted, the count indicated an abstention rate of 19.38%, down from 21.08% in the first round. Abstention usually rises in Brazilian runoffs; the only exception was in 2022, when the tight Lula–Bolsonaro contest brought more voters out.
The extension ruling itself stemmed from the transport disruption, and voters on Paulista Avenue were in no doubt about who they blamed. Lucas Lopes, a 32-year-old public relations worker from São Paulo, called the transport disruption another coup attempt by the extreme right, while Caio Marques, a 40-year-old photographer from Franca in São Paulo state, said the left was really mobilized and he had faith the ploy would not work.
