Lula wins a fourth term as Brazil's president, and Flávio Bolsonaro refuses to concede

SÃO PAULO, Brazil (Oct. 26) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a fourth term in Sunday's presidential runoff, defeating Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro by more than 4 million votes, Brazil's electoral court said, according to Reuters and AP.

Lula received 51.79% of the vote to Bolsonaro's 48.21%, the BBC reported. The result was a reversal from the first round on Oct. 4, when Bolsonaro led with 47% to Lula's 45%, according to the BBC, and Reuters said the outcome defied the polls.

Bolsonaro, the eldest son of imprisoned former President Jair Bolsonaro, refused to accept the result and said he would ask for it to be annulled, pointing to a Sunday ruling by a Supreme Court justice that extended voting by two hours, Reuters reported. Reuters said Bolsonaro's campaign had also asked for more voting time because of heavy rain in parts of the south, and analysts told the news agency that an annulment is unlikely given the size of his loss.

AP described Lula, 80, as a vocal critic of President Donald Trump and Bolsonaro as a far-right ally of Trump. Reuters noted that Jair Bolsonaro never accepted his own 2022 loss to Lula and was later sentenced by Brazil's Supreme Court to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup to stay in power.

The result rattled investors who had bet on a Bolsonaro win. The iShares Brazil exchange-traded fund, which tracks Brazilian stocks in the US, fell about 27% in premarket trading on Monday, Reuters reported.