Overview
- Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won the October 25 runoff with about 51.7% of valid votes versus roughly 48.2% for Flávio Bolsonaro, a comeback after finishing second in the first round.
- Electoral authorities extended polling by two hours on voting day after urgent requests about transport failures and heavy rain, a decision that interrupted the early release of partial results.
- Local probes are active into voting‑day access problems, including the arrest of Salvador’s mobility secretary after allegations that reduced bus service hindered voters reaching polling places.
- The Tribunal Superior Electoral (TSE) ordered Meta and X to explain within 24 hours whether their algorithms or AI tools treated the campaigns unequally and demanded technical data with fines possible for noncompliance.
- The result preserves Lula’s policy course and raises near‑term fights over platform regulation, judicial probes of tech companies, and how election‑day operations will be safeguarded in future contests.