Carter Center Election Expert Mission Commends Brazil’s Democratic Presidential Runoff Election

ATLANTA (Oct. 27, 2026) — The Carter Center’s election expert mission to Brazil commends the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) for its administration of the presidential runoff election held on Oct. 25, 2026.

Despite late-hour complications on election day, votes were counted swiftly from over 499,000 polling stations and results were announced within hours of polls closing. Participation increased from the first round by almost 3 million votes. President Lula da Silva was reelected with 51.79% of the votes over Flavio Bolsonaro, who received 48.21% of votes—a margin of 4.4 million votes. Prior to the election, both campaigns expressed trust in the voting systems and publicly committed to accepting the results.

“The Carter Center, along with national and independent international observers, witnessed the successful conclusion of the 2026 presidential election and Brazil’s continued support for democracy. Respect for the will of the voters is fundamental to democracy. Candidates and their supporters should respect the announced results. Any evidence-based concerns should be pursued through established legal processes,” said Jennie Lincoln, the Carter Center’s senior advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean and mission director.

The Carter Center received an invitation from the TSE to send an election mission for the general elections. The four-person expert mission from Germany, Portugal, and the United States, plus staff from The Carter Center, focused on the legal framework governing the elections, the use of voting technology, and voter education. The full findings will be publicly released in a final report once the electoral process has been concluded.

The Carter Center team visited polling centers in the Federal District on election day. Due to its focus on specific topics, the mission did not assess the conduct of voting and will not make a comprehensive assessment of the election process.

Initial observations include:

• Legal aspects of election administration: The election was administered by a professional and knowledgeable body of electoral officials. The process was well-organized and transparent, with opportunities for scrutiny by political parties and voters.
• The complaints and appeals system is complex, with a high level of direct judicial involvement. There were multiple instances of inconsistent and/or contradictory decisions on election-related aspects by the TSE, the Federal Supreme Court (STF), and other judicial levels. A prime example is the controversial two-hour extension of the voting hours that was determined after polls had closed. Additionally, there were allegations of interference and algorithmic bias on Meta platforms, which the TSE addressed by requiring the company to ensure equal treatment of all candidacies. The TSE also requested more information, requiring the company to comply with national regulations. Further investigations are still pending.
• Voting technology: The TSE deployed the same secure electronic voting system for the runoff that it used in the first round. A challenging operational environment was created by the last-minute decision to change voting hours. However, the system successfully delivered timely results on election night, which were published via the TSE website and results app.
• Voter education: The TSE increased voter education efforts between rounds, including educational social media posts that included clarifications on polling place changes and vote transmission procedures. Commendably, the TSE also sent targeted e-Título app notifications to voters whose polling places had changed in about 100 locations nationwide. Almost 50% of the voters in Brazil used this app.

The Carter Center conducts its work in accordance with Brazilian law and the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and the Code of Conduct for International Election Observers, adopted at the United Nations in 2005.

Since 1989, The Carter Center has conducted 128 full and limited election observation missions in 40 countries and three Native American nations. In addition, 20 expert missions have been conducted in 17 countries, including the 2022 presidential election in Brazil.

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Contact: In Atlanta, media@cartercenter.org