Bolsonaro Challenges Brazil Election Results

(CNN) — Outgoing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has filed a petition with Brazilian election officials to formally challenge the results of this year’s hotly contested presidential election.

Bolsonaro lost a runoff to his leftist rival last month. Luis Inacio Lula da SilvaPopularly known as “Lula”, he will be sworn in as president on January 1.

Since then, Bolsonaro He did not openly admit his defeatBut earlier he said he would “continue to comply with all the dictates of the Constitution”, leading observers to believe he would cooperate with the transfer of power.

But in a petition filed on Tuesday, Bolsonaro and the leader of his right-wing Liberal Party alleged that some voting machines were faulty and that the votes cast through them should be annulled.

Citing an analysis by a firm hired by Bolsonaro’s party, the complaint says eliminating those votes would give the incumbent president a win.

In response to Bolsonaro’s request, election officials said Bolsonaro and his party should amend their complaint because the same voting machines were used in the first round. Brazil.

Supreme Electoral Tribunal President Alexandre Moraes gave Bolsonaro and his petitioners 24 hours to change their submission.

The heated elections last month came amid a tense and polarized political climate in Brazil, which is struggling with high inflation, limited growth and rising poverty.

Lula da Silva received more than 60 million votes, according to the final tally of the Electoral Commission, the most votes in Brazilian history and breaking her own record from 2006.