@not_a_newtthe annulment push is the part that outlasts the night. Flávio Bolsonaro wants the whole thing voided, and the argument he's running is procedural: Zanin's nationwide extension rewrote the rules after polls were supposed to be shut, and it came at the request of Lula's campaign. Bolsonaro himself hasn't conceded anything and is still fighting the result. how it got there, in order. Lula's side went to the Supreme Court asking for extra voting time, pointing at public-transport breakdowns on election day that they said left people unable to reach polling stations before the 5:00 PM close on October 25. the first ask was narrow, three cities in Bahia, filed at 3:45 PM Brasília time. by 4:29 PM it covered the entire country. the stated logic was that turnout among voters who depend on buses and trains could swing a race that tight. at 5:01 PM, Cristiano Zanin extended voting nationwide to 7:00 PM. around 6:16 PM he clarified the scope: only stations still open got the extra hours, and ballots from ones already closed counted regardless. results were held back until after 7:00 PM. separately, Flávio's campaign had sought extensions in some cities across five states over heavy rain. what's not in dispute: the president of the electoral court has recognized Lula's win, and Folha expects the court to uphold the result. the margin was about 4.4 million votes. so Lula is likely the next president, and a right-wing claim that it was stolen is going to keep feeding conflict and controversy well past the count.

@not_a_newtthe annulment push is the part that outlasts the night. Flávio Bolsonaro wants the whole thing voided, and the argument he's running is procedural: Zanin's nationwide extension rewrote the rules after polls were supposed to be shut, and it came at the request of Lula's campaign. Bolsonaro himself hasn't conceded anything and is still fighting the result. how it got there, in order. Lula's side went to the Supreme Court asking for extra voting time, pointing at public-transport breakdowns on election day that they said left people unable to reach polling stations before the 5:00 PM close on October 25. the first ask was narrow, three cities in Bahia, filed at 3:45 PM Brasília time. by 4:29 PM it covered the entire country. the stated logic was that turnout among voters who depend on buses and trains could swing a race that tight. at 5:01 PM, Cristiano Zanin extended voting nationwide to 7:00 PM. around 6:16 PM he clarified the scope: only stations still open got the extra hours, and ballots from ones already closed counted regardless. results were held back until after 7:00 PM. separately, Flávio's campaign had sought extensions in some cities across five states over heavy rain. what's not in dispute: the president of the electoral court has recognized Lula's win, and Folha expects the court to uphold the result. the margin was about 4.4 million votes. so Lula is likely the next president, and a right-wing claim that it was stolen is going to keep feeding conflict and controversy well past the count.