Unfortunately, there's bad news out of Brazil after the election there on Sunday.
With the votes now counted, they have declared the leftist incumbent Lula (full name: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva) the winner with nearly 4.4 million more votes and 51.8 percent of the vote over Flávio Bolsonaro.
However, Bolsonaro is refusing to concede and calling for the results to be annulled because of a last-minute decision to extend voting by two hours. While both candidates made a request to have the extension, it appears to have resulted in understandable confusion, with some places being open and some closed.
The electoral court's announcement ended an evening of confusion at polling places after Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin ruled three minutes before the scheduled end of voting to keep polls open for two more hours, following requests by both candidates. Lula's request came after issues with buses that provide transportation to polls in Sao Paulo and Salvador, two cities that tend to favor the incumbent. Bolsonaro's request was due to heavy rains in Brazil's south, where he is favored.
The decision delayed tallying the votes by two hours. It was unclear how many polling stations stayed open after the scheduled closing time. Polling stations in Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro closed shortly after the original 5 p.m. deadline, reporters for The Associated Press observed.
Bolsonaro was understandably upset.
🚨 HOLY CRAP! A defiant Flavio Bolsonaro just walked out and declared THE RESULTS ARE INVALID after Lula STOLE it from him — BOLSONARO IS MOVING TO ANUL THE RESULTS.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 26, 2026
"It is impossible—it is IMPOSSIBLE—to recognize the election results in the context of how these things happened.… pic.twitter.com/CkHkFhOess
The results are unfortunate for the U.S. as well as for Brazil, as the conservative Bolsonaro would have been an ally to President Donald Trump, and South America has largely been moving right.
It's also quite the switch from the first round of the elections earlier this month.
Bolsonaro bested Lula by more than 2.2 million votes in the first round of the election earlier this month. Sunday night's victory by Lula marked the first time since Brazil's military dictatorship ended in 1985 that the second-highest vote-getter in the first-round elections won the presidency.
Someone's going to have to explain to me how you can have such a huge flip in the vote in the same month.
But in a move that doesn't bode well, Lula is already talking about regulating social media.
The mask is OFF. 🇧🇷
— Dr. Simon (@goddek) October 26, 2026
Hours after being re-selected, Lula’s first move:
“We’re going to have to regulate the social media platforms."
TRANSLATION: he’s coming for your free speech.
This is what a tyrant sounds like. Once a commie, always a commie. pic.twitter.com/ines6dDJIa
Pro tip, folks in Brazil? This is what you get if leftists gain power.
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