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We may have to wait a bit unless Bolsonaro conceded right away. Remember, Bolsonaro has tight tie to the military. This could be a dangerous time and a test of their democratic electron process. Nevertheless, I am hopeful that the Brazilians have learned from the mess created when someone wanting to void the people’s votes.
Reuters reported Lula won! Look like Brazil election is based on who win the popular votes by over 50%. Lula won by a narrow margin, 50.8% versus 49.2%. Someone is smiling from above.
His son was making noise to cast doubt on the election integrity (sounds familiar) even before the voting closed. We have to keep watching as over 99% of the votes have been counted.
Bolsonaro was leading in the beginning and Lula surged in the end. If Lula comes through, then this a great win for democracy.
Bolsonaro’s son was talking about the voting machines. Same stuff that Sydney Powell, Mike Lindell and Rudy Giuliani were pushing for. Don’t know what their court would request for a recount.
in the usa, at least in some states, would a vote so close automatically trigger a recount? 1% limit? But this is more, though still very thin. Lula wins, and that's a relief.
in the usa, at least in some states, would a vote so close automatically trigger a recount? 1% limit? But this is more, though still very thin. Lula wins, and that's a relief.
It would take a while to suss out what the laws in say the majority of the states are on recounts, but in one relevant and memorable case from 2020, there's Georgia: no provision for an automatic recount, but a candidate can request one if the margin's 0.5% or less. (I'm not gonna dig into what happens after the "request" is made.)
A 1% margin sounds really close, and it is in percentage terms, but in any populous jurisdiction, it represents a lot of votes that would have to be flipped or discarded in a recount for it to change the outcome.
As of 9 p.m. local time, Mr. Bolsonaro had yet to concede or publicly address the country.
The close race, high stakes and deep polarization led to an ugly election campaign. Misinformation has soared in recent weeks, with supporters of Mr. da Silva accusing Mr. Bolsonaro of being a cannibal and a pedophile, while Mr. Bolsonaro’s supporters have called Mr. da Silva a gang leader, a communist and a Satanist who wants to close the nation’s churches.
Election officials tried to intervene, ordering posts and videos off the internet that they said were false. Those efforts slowed the deluge of misleading information, but they also became their own controversy, drawing a swell of complaints of unfair refereeing, particularly from Mr. Bolsonaro and his allies.
Last year, Mr. Bolsonaro told his supporters there were only three outcomes to the election: He wins, he is killed or he is arrested. He then added, “Tell the bastards I’ll never be arrested.”
But more recently he said
“Whoever gets more votes, takes it. That’s democracy.”
So, the question is does he really want to beget a potential civil war in his native land?
“Anywhere else in the world, the president who lost would have called me by now and conceded," Lula da Silva told supporters on Sunday night, explaining that he was "part happy, part worried" about the transfer of power.
Almost two days after Sunday's vote, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro finally made his first statement about the election but did not concede that he lost to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
"As president and as a citizen I will continue to follow all the commandments of our constitution," Bolsonaro said in a news conference in Brasília on Tuesday. In his remarks, which lasted less than 2 minutes, he didn't mention the election winner, popularly known as Lula, by name.
After the brief statement, Bolsonaro's chief of staff, Ciro Nogueira, told reporters that the incumbent president authorized him to "begin the transition process."
Bolsonaro lost Sunday's runoff election 49.1% to da Silva's 50.9% — the slimmest margin in Brazil going back at least to its return to democracy in the 1980s. His silence until now fueled concerns that he would refuse to recognize the results, even as political allies and others close to Bolsonaro publicly acknowledged his defeat and called on him to respect the vote.
Bolsonaro — an admirer of former President Donald Trump — has repeatedly made unfounded allegations about voter fraud in Brazil's electronic voting system. He once said "only God" would remove him from office.
On election night, President-elect da Silva said to supporters in São Paulo, "Anywhere else in the world, the president who lost would have called me by now and conceded." Trucker protests
Truck drivers loyal to Bolsonaro have blocked roads in over a dozen Brazilian states, causing disruptions. The road to São Paulo's international airport was blocked and many flights were canceled. Many truckers are among the most diehard of Bolsonaro supporters, having benefited from policies such as lowering diesel costs.
On Tuesday morning, the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered federal highway police to clear the blockades.
In his brief national address later Tuesday, Bolsonaro said the protests were a "popular movement" resulting from "indignation and a sense of injustice" over the election. But he said demonstrators should avoid "impeding the right to come and go" or destroying property.
He is still a sore loser who refuse to concede formally to Lula. He had his staff to make the announcement. Don’t expect him to a letter to Lula like Bush sr. did for Bill Clinton.
Since he has tight tie to the military, there was a possibility he would call a coup and install himself again as the president.
Joe Biden and a number of other leaders of Western democracies were very quick to publicly congratulate Brazil on a fair election, helping to put pressure on Bolsanaro to recognize the result. He may be a sore loser, but at least he ain't a Trump.
Comments
https://reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-votes-heated-bolsonaro-vs-lula-presidential-runoff-2022-10-30/
Bolsonaro was leading in the beginning and Lula surged in the end. If Lula comes through, then this a great win for democracy.
100% of the votes have been counted. Lula 50.9% and Bolsonaro 49.1%.
https://cnn.com/2022/10/30/americas/brazil-election-polls-open-intl
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/10/30/lula-will-not-be-more-than-a-brazilian-biden
A 1% margin sounds really close, and it is in percentage terms, but in any populous jurisdiction, it represents a lot of votes that would have to be flipped or discarded in a recount for it to change the outcome.
Following is a current report from NPR, slightly edited for brevity.
https://msn.com/en-us/news/world/brazil-s-bolsonaro-vows-to-follow-constitution-orders-transition-to-lula/ar-AA13CPxu?cvid=f4afe2f502884a868d6b6cdac93735e9
Since he has tight tie to the military, there was a possibility he would call a coup and install himself again as the president.