Lessons from Brazil's runoff election
The gist
Brazil's electoral court declared President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva re-elected with 51.79% to Flávio Bolsonaro's 48.21%.
Commentators cast the comeback as a turnout lesson for the global left.
How it unfolded
- Oct 4, 2026First round: Flávio Bolsonaro led Lula by 2,224,965 votes, with Lula at 45% and Bolsonaro at 47%, forcing a runoff.
- Oct 25, 2026The electoral court declared Lula re-elected with 51.79% to 48.21%, a margin of about 4.4 million votes.
- Oct 25, 2026Runoff turnout was almost 81%, the highest in a presidential runoff in 20 years, with nearly three million more voters than the first round; invalid votes fell from 3.7 million to 2.7 million.