Lula wins a record fourth term in Brazil

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won Brazil's presidential runoff, becoming the first person in the country's history to be elected president four times.

Official results gave Lula 51.79% of valid votes, about 64.3 million, against 48.21%, about 59.8 million, for Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. The margin was roughly 4.4 million votes.

The result was a comeback. Bolsonaro had finished first in the opening round on Oct. 4 with 47.03% to Lula's 45.16%. It is the first time since Brazil's return to democracy in 1985 that a candidate who trailed in the first round has won the runoff.

Polls were due to close at 5 p.m. Brasília time. Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin extended voting by two hours at stations that were still open, after both campaigns asked for more time because of transport and weather problems. The head of the electoral court said the extension did not change the outcome. Because Brazil uses electronic voting machines, the count was completed within hours.

Bolsonaro initially refused to accept the result and called for the election to be annulled, but dropped that bid on Monday. His campaign now plans a different action at the electoral court, seeking to disqualify the Lula–Alckmin ticket over alleged abuse of political and economic power. The court is responsible for certifying the results.

Lula, who governed from 2003 to 2010 and returned to power in 2023, will be sworn in for his new term on Jan. 5, 2027, under a constitutional change that moved inauguration day from Jan. 1. The victory came two days before his 81st birthday.

Lula will face a Congress in which his opponents hold considerable strength, and the narrow margin shows how evenly divided Brazil remains.