Bolsonaro's Party Accepts Brazil Runoff Result as Trump Questions the Vote

The party of Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has accepted the outcome of the country's presidential run-off, even though its candidate had promised to try to have the result annulled. Valdemar Costa Neto, who leads the right-wing Liberal Party, announced the position in a statement on Monday.

Costa Neto still shared some of Bolsonaro's doubts about how the vote unfolded. "We recognise the presidential election results," he said. "But we believe the issues raised need to be properly clarified."

Incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a left-wing politician, beat Bolsonaro on Sunday by more than 4.4 million votes. Lula collected over 64.25 million ballots, against 59.83 million for his rival. Bolsonaro has not formally conceded. In a speech after the vote he described the result as "unacceptable" and told supporters, "I will request that these elections be annulled."

His objection centers on a last-minute decision to keep polls open longer. Both campaigns had asked for more time, though for different reasons. Bolsonaro's side cited heavy rain in parts of southern Brazil, a region seen as friendly to the right, which kept some voters from reaching polling places. Lula's side argued that some cities had cut public transport on election day, which his allies described as interference aimed at his working-class supporters. Media reports said Pablo Souza, a transportation official in Salvador, was arrested on Sunday in connection with the matter.

Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin ordered polls that were still open to stay open until 7pm Brasilia time (22:00 GMT) instead of the scheduled 5pm (20:00 GMT) closing. Bolsonaro attacked the ruling, noting that Lula named Zanin to the court in 2023 and that Zanin once worked as Lula's personal lawyer. "With a simple stroke of a pen, at the request of a former partner, [Zanin] changed the rules of the game mid-match," Bolsonaro said.

Experts were doubtful about the claim of wrongdoing. Pedro Burgos, a professor at the Brazilian institute Insper, calculated that the extension produced about 35,000 additional votes nationwide, under 0.03 percent of the total and far below Lula's margin.

Some right-wing figures still backed Bolsonaro. US President Donald Trump, who has clashed with Lula before, told reporters on Monday: "Elections have to be indisputable and it looked very bad to me. It looked like another rigged election, frankly." Trump did not suggest he would intervene, saying he "did not take sides".

Bolsonaro's stance has revived worries about whether he will respect the democratic process or follow his father, Jair Bolsonaro, who was president from 2019 to 2023. After losing to Lula in 2022, the elder Bolsonaro refused to accept the result. He and his allies tried to overturn it, and prosecutors accused him of plotting a coup to block the lawful transfer of power. He is serving a 27-year prison sentence on coup-related charges and was also barred from public office for eight years after a court found he spread election misinformation. Flavio Bolsonaro and his siblings have sought their father's release and call his trial political persecution.

It remains unclear whether the senator will pursue his challenge. Folha de S Paulo reported on Monday that legal advisers and allies have persuaded him to drop the effort, pointing to the size of Lula's margin and its validation by the Supreme Court and election authorities. Bolsonaro also said federal police asked him to surrender his passports amid speculation that he might leave Brazil. He said he would comply and had no plans to go, adding: "To withstand the chaos, I'm going to organise the opposition."