Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro has launched a challenge against his country’s recent election results that determined his loss to socialist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
On Nov. 2, Bolsonaro admitted that the “election is over” in a move that appeared to many to signal his intent to begin a transition of power to Lula after the nation’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE) ratified the results. However, on Wednesday, he changed his tune over concerns regarding some voting machines and blaming a software bug.
Much like former President Trump, who Bolsonaro openly admires, he has claimed that electronic voting machines are prone to fraud.
Following an audit of results by his coalition, Bolsonaro said his party found “signs of irreparable … malfunctions” in some machines. He has not provided any proof, even when ordered to do so by the electoral court.
His allies claimed they found “signs of serious failures that generate uncertainties and make it impossible to validate the results generated” in older models of the voting machines. They have yet to provide any evidence of these claims.
Lula won the election with 50.9% of the vote to Bolsonaro’s 49.1%, and the claim would affect some 280,000 voting machines, according to the BBC. The result would swing to 51.05% for Bolsonaro and 48.95% for Lula if the affected votes were invalidated.
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro looks on during the ceremony to consolidate the Infralegal Labor Regulatory Framework, at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, November 10, 2021. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino