Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who was defeated in the runoff of the Brazilian presidential election held on the 25th (local time), has raised issues with the extension of voting hours and demanded that the election be declared null and void.

However, the election authorities confirmed the fourth term of incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Criticizing the decision to extend voting hours that day, Senator Bolsonaro said, "There has never been anything like this in Brazil's history," and pointed out that a Supreme Court justice unilaterally "changed the rules in the middle of the game" rather than an electoral court.

He went on to claim, "It is now impossible to know how many more votes I could have secured in states where polling stations did not reopen," adding, "Voters were treated differently depending on the region."

The controversy flared up on election day when Lula's campaign requested an extension of voting hours, citing difficulties for voters getting to polling stations due to public transportation issues and other problems in some states.

The areas where Lula's campaign pointed to public transportation problems include Bahia in the northeastern region, a core support base for President Lula with a strong leftist leaning, and São Paulo, the state with the largest number of voters.

Following the request, Brazil's Federal Supreme Court extended the closing time of the runoff vote, originally set for 5:00 PM, by two hours to 7:00 PM.

Later, Federal Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin explained that the decision to extend voting applied only to polling stations that had not yet closed, and that many polling stations that had already closed did not reopen.

Justice Zanin has faced backlash from the Bolsonaro campaign as he was appointed to the Supreme Court after previously serving as President Lula's personal attorney.

However, it was revealed that the Bolsonaro campaign had also requested an extension of voting hours in some conservative-leaning southern states, citing severe weather and other reasons.

Despite Senator Bolsonaro's backlash and the spreading controversy, election authorities finalized the election results as planned.

Kassio Nunes Marques, President of the Superior Electoral Court, confirmed that President Lula's fourth term will begin on January 5 of next year.

Justice Marques is an appointee nominated to the Supreme Court by Senator Bolsonaro's father, former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Justice Marques stated that while the last-minute request to extend hours affected the vote-counting process, it had no impact on the final outcome and there was no external interference.

Senator Bolsonaro is expected to file a lawsuit to invalidate the election results, but projections are widespread that the chances of it being accepted are low.

Bloomberg reported that election authorities and the Federal Supreme Court, as well as the presidents of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, have already recognized the results.

Reuters reported, citing expert analysis, that the margin of votes in this runoff is more than double the gap when his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, lost to President Lula four years ago, a factor expected to work unfavorably against an invalidation lawsuit.

The fact that the Bolsonaro campaign also requested a voting extension is expected to work against them as well.

Points are also being raised that the refusal declaration is reminiscent of the situation during the last presidential election.

At that time, former President Bolsonaro, who narrowly lost to President Lula, refused to accept the results, leading to an incident where his supporters stormed government buildings.

He was subsequently sentenced to 27 years in prison on charges including coup plotting.

Mário Braga, a Latin America analyst at crisis consultancy RANE, predicted that while right-wing protests could take place over the next few days, "the likelihood of the result being overturned is very low."

According to Brazil's Superior Electoral Court, President Lula won the election with 51.8 percent of the vote, defeating candidate Bolsonaro by a margin of about 4.4 million votes.

President Lula first took office in 2003, and this marks his fourth term.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)