Brazil Supreme Court extends presidential voting by 2 hours
- Justice Zanin approves joint extension requests from Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro following public transit disruptions and severe weather conditions
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- Justice Zanin approves joint extension requests from Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro following public transit disruptions and severe weather conditions
By Laura Gamba
BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Federal Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin issued an urgent ruling on Sunday extending voting hours across all of Brazil by two hours until 7 pm Brasilia time (22:00 GMT), following separate emergency petitions filed by both presidential candidates.
The extension comes after incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and conservative Senator Flavio Bolsonaro cast their ballots early Sunday morning in a deeply divided runoff election that polls indicate is locked in a statistical dead heat.
President Lula initially petitioned the Superior Electoral Court and the Supreme Court to extend voting in key metropolitan strongholds, including Salvador, the capital of Bahia with nearly 2 million registered voters, and Sao Paulo, home to over 9 million voters.
"What we want is an election done honestly and with everyone having their right to vote," Lula said in a public address, urging voters not to abandon polling lines. "Wait, and vote, because democracy must win."
The legal challenge was prompted by severe transit bottlenecks in Salvador, where municipal officials reported that at least 75 public buses were blocked from leaving garages.
Salvador City Hall alleged that union workers applied stickers bearing the Workers' Party (PT) logo and candidate number 13 onto public transit vehicles, violating federal electoral advertising laws.
The Bahia Regional Electoral Court issued an immediate arrest warrant for Salvador’s Secretary of Mobility Pablo Souza, citing an electoral crime linked to the fleet reduction. Federal Police have been unable to execute the order as Souza is currently in Paris on an official government trade mission.
Shortly after Lula’s legal filing, Flavio Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party (PL) submitted a parallel request asking electoral authorities to keep polling stations open until 7 pm across 17 municipalities in Sao Paulo, Parana, and Santa Catarina, where torrential rains and flooding created severe obstacles for voters.
Justice Cristiano Zanin of the Federal Supreme Court unified these requests, granting a blanket extension across the entire nation to ensure uniform voting conditions.
The outcome of the Brazilian runoff is widely expected to resonate across Latin America, where recent elections have reflected a broader conservative pivot.
Speaking to reporters in Washington on Sunday, US President Donald Trump said he was "closely monitoring" the election day developments in Brazil, though he refrained from making an explicit endorsement for either candidate.
Laura Gamba Fadul