Brazil's Electoral Court Chief Says Elections Complied With Law, Constitution

(MENAFN- IANS) Brasilia, Oct 29 (IANS) Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) President Kassio Nunes Marques has said that the country's 2026 elections proceeded normally and complied with legal and constitutional requirements.

"I reaffirm the commitment of the entire electoral justice system to the sovereign will of the electorate, who went to the polls and legitimately chose their representatives," Nunes Marques said in a statement on the court's website on Wednesday (local time).

Despite instability in the final stages of voting, measures adopted by the court and the expertise of its technical staff had enabled vote counting to proceed and ensured the election was conducted securely, he said. "All challenges submitted through due legal process will be examined and answered."

The statement came after Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who lost Sunday's presidential runoff to incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, alleged electoral fraud in an open letter, reports Xinhua news agency.

Bolsonaro accused Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) of overstepping the TSE's authority by extending voting by two hours, saying that the order to extend voting hours was communicated only after the official closing time, causing unequal treatment of voters.

He also criticised the TSE, saying it had merely defended the voting extension without providing a credible response.

The STF ordered voting to be extended until 7 p.m. (2200 GMT) on Sunday after both presidential campaigns reported difficulty voters faced in reaching polling stations. The ruling ultimately applied only to polling stations that had remained open at 5 p.m., while those already closed were not reopened.

Lula defeated Bolsonaro by more than 4 million votes in Sunday's runoff. According to Brazilian media, only about 34,300 votes were cast after the original 5 p.m. closing time, far fewer than Lula's margin of victory.

Bolsonaro and his family arrived in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday morning, US media reported. Their plane reportedly landed in the U.S. city after flying from Argentina, with a stop in Ecuador.

His departure followed a ruling by Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordering him to surrender his passports to the Federal Police and barring him from leaving the country.

The ruling is part of an investigation involving Bolsonaro and lawyer Willer Tomaz on suspicion of money laundering and illegal foreign exchange transactions, Brazilian media reported.

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