Vote-counting resumed in Brazil’s polarising presidential runoff between incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Flavio Bolsonaro after voting hours were extended following requests by both candidates for an extension based on issues with voting in their respective stronghold.
The extension had caused confusion at many polling stations.
Some had already shut down when the decision — made by a Supreme Court justice three minutes before poll close time — was relayed to them several minutes after they had already shut down, and results were paused until the end of the two-hour window.
The decision set the stage for possible legal challenges no matter who wins.
Mr Lula’s camp said it was already looking into legal manoeuvres because of “interference in the electoral process”< said Edhinho Silva, chairman of Mr Lula’s Workers Party. Mr Bolsonaro’s campaign had yet to comment.The contest will determine whether the US will significantly expand its growing influence in Latin America. A win for Mr Bolsonaro would signify a pivot to the right by Latin America’s most populous country and its largest economy, in a year when Trump allies have scored victories in Chile, Peru and Colombia. A victory for Mr Lula would leave Brazil and Mexico with left-of-centre leaders.Polls showed the two candidates, who need more than 50% of the vote to become Brazil’s next leader in January, in a neck-and-neck race. The election pits the left-of-centre veteran politician Mr Lula against Mr Bolsonaro, an ally of US President Donald Trump and the son of imprisoned former president Jair Bolsonaro.As polls were closing, Brazilian Supreme Court justice Cristiano Zanin ruled to extend voting nationwide for two hours following requests from both candidates.
Mr Lula’s request came after issues in nine states with buses that provide transportation to polls in Sao Paulo and Salvador, two cities that tend to favour the incumbent.
A state electoral judge ordered the arrest of the mobility secretary of the state capital, Salvador, Pablo Souza, in relation to the case after at least 75 public buses were prevented from leaving municipal garages on Sunday.
Mr Bolsonaro’s request was because of heavy rains in Brazil’s south, where he is favoured.
The extension threatened to cause logistical problems with some polls likely having closed before they got the order to stay open.
In Brasilia, volunteers who oversaw the vote count at a school debated whether they needed to stay after the announcement to extend voting, but most left 15 to 20 minutes after polls closed and they had given count information to electoral authorities.
At a polling station in Rio de Janeiro, the voting machines had already been switched off minutes after polls were set to close and could not be turned back on.
Supreme Court justice Mr Zanin later clarified the decision is valid for wherever polls were still open.
The electoral mission for the Organisation of American States said in a statement that it is monitoring reports of public transportation issues.
Mr Bolsonaro bested Mr Lula by more than 2.2 million votes in the first round of the election earlier this month.
However, more than 33 million voters out of nearly 160 million did not turn out.
Mr Bolsonaro and Mr Lula have opposing ideological views on issues ranging from US-Brazil relations and climate change to social welfare.
In many ways, Brazil’s runoff vote is another tight rematch between the country’s two polarised political forces that trigger passion as much as loathing.
Four years ago, Mr Lula beat Mr Bolsonaro’s father by the narrowest margin since the country’s return to democracy in 1985.
Mr Lula, who first governed Brazil between 2003 and 2010, has faced a tough re-election battle because of concerns about the cost of living and security.
Mr Bolsonaro made a tough-on-crime approach the cornerstone of his campaign and pledged to bring down food costs while Mr Lula, trying to lure undecided voters, has invested in costly incentives.
Both have been hit by corruption suspicions involving family members and allies, with Mr Bolsonaro implicated in a sprawling scandal rocking Brazil.
Mr Lula previously spent more than a year in prison on corruption convictions that were eventually annulled.
As Mr Bolsonaro voted at a school in Rio de Janeiro, his supporters shouted “Lula, thief, your place is in prison” while Mr Lula’s supporters chanted in his support.
“The time of real change has arrived,” Mr Bolsonaro said. “Brazil can’t go on for another four years on its current trajectory.”
Eduardo Bolsonaro, Flavio Bolsonaro’s brother and a 42-year-old former legislator, spoke to supporters at a polling station in Miami, Florida.
“What we really need is freedom,” he said, calling for judicial reform.
“Most of the people here are coming to vote to free Jair Bolsonaro… we need to reform the judiciary, we need to free the political prisoners.”
Lula voters turned out Sunday driven by his history of supporting marginalised people and working to lift Brazilians out of poverty.
“Lula is a man of the people and he knows what it’s like to be poor,” Luzia da Souza, who runs a bar in Rio de Janeiro, said. “I find it impossible not to vote for him.”
Anderson Falcao, a 43-year-old journalist in Brasilia who sported a red shirt in support of Mr Lula, said he worried about Mr Bolsonaro’s long-term political vision, which he called “exclusionary”.
“It’s a project that harms the less fortunate, harms the worker, women, the forest, the Amazon,” he said.
Bolsonaro voters, many of whom wore yellow and green Brazil jerseys in support of the senator, said they want change.
“Things are really expensive and taxes are too high,” Fabianne Borges Santoro, a 45-year-old physiotherapist in Rio de Janeiro, said.
She added that she once voted for Mr Lula’s party but now associates it with corruption.
In Bahia state, a stronghold for Mr Lula, whose voters tend to live in areas that depend more heavily on buses, at least 75 public buses were prevented from leaving municipal garages during the presidential runoff vote, according to a state electoral judge.
He ordered the arrest of the mobility secretary of the capital Salvador, Pablo Souza, in relation to the case.
President of Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court, Kassio Nunes Marques did not confirm if voting would be extended, which Mr Lula requested in Salvador and Sao Paulo, where issues were also reported.
“We will not be robbed by mayors, governors or businessmen,” Mr Lula told press. “These people need to respect democracy.”
International observers earlier in the day said that voting was occurring peacefully and with transparency and did not immediately comment on the incident.
Mr Lula criticised the US president before Brazil’s election, speaking about the risks of US intervention in Brazilian elections after the Trump administration imposed high tariffs against Brazilian exports and classified drug-trafficking groups as foreign terrorist organisations.
Experts say the moves may have been intended to make Mr Lula look soft on crime.
Flavio Bolsonaro has touted his proximity to the White House and insisted that Brazil needs to strike better deals with the Trump administration, including in the rare minerals economy.
Brazil estimates that its deposits hold up to 21 million tonnes, second only to China.
He denies he is being helped by the US government.
Mr Trump said Sunday that he is watching the election but declined to endorse a candidate.
