Bolsonaro Leads Lula by Narrow Margin in Brazil's Second Round

Conservative Republican candidate Jair Bolsonaro leads the results of Brazil's second round of presidential elections, ahead of incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by a slim margin, according to figures from the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) monitored by Anadolu Agency.

After counting 183,585 polling stations out of 499,248 total—equivalent to 36.77% of the total—Bolsonaro received 50.32% of valid votes, while Lula secured 49.68%, with a difference of 286,167 votes between them.

These results came following an exceptional two-hour extension of voting hours after federal supreme court judge Cristiano Zanin issued an emergency ruling, following petitions submitted by both camps due to public transportation stoppages in several cities and heavy rains that swept southern states. The TSE office had begun releasing preliminary results at 5 p.m. Brasília time before suspending publication until the extended voting concluded.

In the city of Salvador, capital of Bahia state, municipal authorities reported that at least 75 public buses were prevented from leaving their stations, and the municipality indicated that union workers had placed stickers bearing the Workers' Party logo and its electoral number 13 on transport vehicles, prompting their operators to withdraw them to avoid violating electoral campaign rules. The regional electoral court in Bahia issued an order for the arrest of Salvador's mobility coordinator Pablo Souza, who was in Paris when the order was issued, and ordered the complete fleet of buses to resume operations.

Lula said in a public address directed at voters: "What we want is elections conducted with integrity in which everyone exercises their right to vote," adding: "Wait and vote, because democracy must prevail."