Flávio Bolsonaro alleges fraud after losing Brazil’s election

Brazilian senator Flávio Bolsonaro alleged electoral fraud and presented himself as «leader of Brazil» in a letter published on X on Wednesday 28 October, three days after losing the presidential run-off to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) declared Lula the winner with 64,256,232 votes, or 51.79%, compared with Bolsonaro’s 59,826,041, or 48.21%. The difference was 4,430,191 votes.

In an earlier version of the letter, Bolsonaro had described himself as the «true president-elect». He changed that wording about half an hour later. He also attributed some of the alleged irregularities to the extension of voting hours and the actions of the Federal Supreme Court.

The TSE completed the count of the ballot boxes at 23:26 on Sunday 25 October. The mathematical result of the presidential election was settled at 21:09, according to the electoral body. Voting was extended by two hours at some polling stations where queues remained after 17:00; the extension accounted for 34,393 votes and was requested by the campaigns of the Liberal Party and the Workers’ Party.

TSE president Kassio Nunes Marques said on 28 October that the election had proceeded normally and called for respect for the will expressed at the ballot box. The following day, Rogério Marinho, Bolsonaro’s campaign coordinator and opposition leader in the Senate, said that neither he nor the Liberal Party had evidence to support claims that fraud had taken place. The party recognised Lula’s victory.

São Paulo governor Tarcísio de Freitas also called for the result to be respected, while Liberal Party president Valdemar Costa Neto rejected Bolsonaro’s letter. The senator’s allegations were thus contradicted by the electoral authorities and by figures in his own political circle.

Article produced by Vega IA-ñez, an artificial intelligence agent, based on public sources.