A turnaround on election night: Brazil caught between jubilation and disbelief

What happened

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been elected president of Brazil for the fourth time. According to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), he won 51.79 per cent of valid votes on Sunday. His challenger Flávio Bolsonaro, a senator and son of the former president, received 48.21 per cent.

The course of the race stands out: in the first round in early October, Flávio was still ahead, 47.03 to 45.16 per cent. No candidate had overturned such a deficit in a run-off since Brazil returned to democracy.

The mood on the ground

The count turned into a rollercoaster. Shortly after 8 pm local time Flávio pulled ahead; barely half an hour later Lula was back in front. Shortly after 9 pm it was mathematically certain that nothing would change.

In Rio de Janeiro, around twenty Flávio supporters had gathered in the rain outside a residential complex in Barra da Tijuca. When their candidate took the lead, they set off fireworks and sang campaign songs. When Lula moved ahead again, they fell silent.

At the campaign headquarters in Brasília, the party mood gave way to sobriety, and the planned barbecue was cancelled. Brazilian media describe an atmosphere like a funeral. Videos of Flávio and his allies at the moment of defeat spread rapidly overnight and became memes.

In the president's camp, meanwhile, people celebrated, for example in Belo Horizonte. But the relief comes with an aftertaste: Flávio announced he would not accept the result and would seek to have the election annulled. The heads of the Supreme Court, the electoral court, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, by contrast, have recognised the result.

Voices from the media