Flávio Bolsonaro Says It Is 'Impossible' to Recognize Brazil's Runoff and Will Seek Annulment Over a Two-Hour Voting Extension

Brazilian Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro says he cannot accept the result of Sunday's presidential runoff, Breitbart News reports.

The result. Official Superior Electoral Tribunal figures put President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at 51.79% and Bolsonaro at 48.21%. Lula, 80, won a fourth term after losing the Oct. 4 first round. We covered the outcome earlier.

The complaint. Justice Cristiano Zanin of the Supreme Federal Tribunal extended voting by two hours, so some stations closed at 7 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. The Lula campaign had asked for it, citing a bus shortage that it said kept voters in the northeast, a Lula stronghold, from reaching polling places. Bolsonaro noted that Zanin was Lula's former lawyer and said it was "not normal" to change "the rules of the game" mid-election "at the request of an ex-partner." He said: "It is impossible to recognize the result of the elections in the context, we will ask for the annulment."

Where it stands. As of Monday morning, Breitbart says his Liberal Party had not filed a formal request. Citing unnamed court sources, Jovem Pan reported that the tribunal's ministers see the election as decided. The sources pointed to the vote margin, the fact that the Bolsonaro campaign also asked for an extension, tribunal president Kassio Nunes Marques's agreement with the order, and the "risk of a new institutional crisis." Some ministers also criticized how long Nunes Marques took to rule on the extension requests.

Markets. Brazilian outlets said the stock exchange briefly halted trading, then fell 16%, and the real dropped 12% against the dollar at the open. Poder 360 attributed this to polls that had favored a Bolsonaro win.

Note for readers: Bolsonaro's account and the court sources are as relayed by Breitbart. The market figures come from Brazilian outlets it cites, and we could not check them.