Superior Electoral Court (TSE)

Rule Changes

Declared Lula the winner with 51.79% of valid votes; Flávio Bolsonaro has said he would challenge the result, though his party has accepted it.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Brazil's presidential runoff on October 25 with 51.79% of valid votes to Flávio Bolsonaro's 48.21%, the Superior Electoral Court said. He is the first candidate to erase a first-round deficit since Brazil began holding runoffs in 1989.

Updated Oct 30

Rule Changes

Gave Meta and X 24 hours on October 22 to explain possible unequal treatment, with a R$500,000 daily fine; has not publicly ruled on compliance

Brazil's electoral court opened a new probe into Meta and X on October 22, giving both 24 hours to explain whether their systems treated Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro unequally. The order from corregedor Ricardo Villas Bôas Cueva carries a R$500,000 daily fine for each company.

Updated Oct 27

Rule Changes

Bypassed by direct STF petitions; expanded propaganda review panel on October 8; clashed over a WhatsApp channel on October 12-13; met Meta over AI on October 15; approved new rules for campaign-linked WhatsApp channels on October 16.

On October 25, the runoff day, Justice Cristiano Zanin of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) extended voting by two hours, to 7 p.m., at polling stations across Brazil. The move followed requests from the Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro campaigns and criticism that TSE president Kassio Nunes Marques had not acted on the problems reported. The TSE paused vote counting during the delay and then called an emergency meeting, where other justices criticized both the delay and Zanin's decision.

Updated Oct 26