The court counted to 100%, and the loser said no

With 100% of votes counted, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva received 51.79% of the valid vote in Sunday’s runoff and Flávio Bolsonaro 48.21%¹. Lula, who turns 81 on Tuesday, has a fourth term¹. Reuters reported the result as declared by Brazil’s electoral court².

The arithmetic of a comeback. Lula lost the first round by 2.2 million votes and won the second by 4.3 million¹. Never since the return of democracy in the 1980s had the first-round runner-up won the runoff¹. The Guardian points to turnout: abstention fell from a record 21.08% in the first round to 19.21%¹. That is not a slogan. It is buses, polling stations and people who came back.

The refusal. Bolsonaro said it was “impossible to concede” and that his lawyers would seek to annul the election, citing a supreme court justice’s decision to extend voting by two hours to 7pm¹. The Guardian notes that his own campaign had also asked the court to extend voting hours¹.

The institution to watch is the dull one. Brazil counts electronically and fast; by Sunday night the result was complete¹. A complaint goes to judges who work from documents. That is where a contested result should go, and where it should stay.