Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva recently won a record fourth term as president of Brazil, beating Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro in the runoff by roughly 51.8 percent to 48.2 percent after trailing him in the first round three weeks earlier.
It was not a clean finish. Three minutes before polls were scheduled to close, Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin, Lula’s former personal defense lawyer and his 2023 appointee to the court, ordered voting to be extended by two hours. Bolsonaro’s campaign had asked for extra time only in rain-soaked southern municipalities; Zanin extended voting nationwide.
