Global Markets
Brazil's Supreme Court extends runoff voting by two hours nationwide, pausing the Lula–Bolsonaro count
Justice Cristiano Zanin kept polls open until 19:00 Brasília time at the request of Lula's campaign, which cited transport failures, and the first partial count was paused with about 0.25% of voting machines tallied.
HedgeWeekly News Desk ·
Brazil's Supreme Federal Court ordered polling stations across the country to stay open for two extra hours on Sunday, until 19:00 Brasília time (22:00 GMT), in the presidential runoff between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro. Justice Cristiano Zanin acted on a request from Lula's campaign, which said voters in several cities had been left without public transport. Zanin cited the gravity of the reported facts and evident urgency, and said it was up to the electoral court, the TSE, to carry out the order. Polls had been due to close at 17:00.
The decision landed at 17:11, after the original closing time and before the TSE, led by Nunes Marques, had ruled on competing petitions. Bolsonaro's campaign had asked for extensions limited to a handful of states, including Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul. The Electoral Public Prosecutor's Office opposed any change, arguing that the voting hours fixed by law should stand.
The transport complaints centred on Bahia. The state electoral court ordered the arrest of Salvador's mobility secretary, Pablo Souza, and the immediate restoration of bus services under a fine of R$1 million per hour, after reports that about 75 buses bearing stickers with Lula's ballot number were kept in garages. Salvador, Lauro de Freitas and Feira de Santana have about 2.5 million voters between them; the city's mobility department said all buses had been released. The TSE published a first partial count at 17:16, covering 1,225 machines, roughly 0.25% of the total, with Lula on 57.66% and Bolsonaro on 42.34%, then halted counting at 17:27 because voting was still open.
Why it matters: the extension pushes a final result further into Sunday night, shortening the window between a declared winner and Monday's open for a market that entered the weekend priced for a close race; the Ibovespa ended Friday at 205,082.56, up 0.47%, and Bloomberg Línea reported option prices jumping on runoff nerves. The tiny early sample says little about the outcome. Investors should watch when the TSE resumes counting after 19:00, whether either campaign or prosecutors challenge the extended hours, and the federal police inquiry into the Salvador bus case, any of which could prolong uncertainty over the result.