Lula has won the second round of the Brazilian presidential elections in New Zealand with 80.54% of valid votes, compared to 19.46% for Flávio Bolsonaro. The count includes 418 supports for the candidate of the Workers' Party and 101 for the Liberal Party, according to results published by CNN Brasil and Poder360 this Sunday, October 25.
It is one of the first results known from the day due to the time difference. Its scope is concrete: it describes how Brazilian voters voted in that country. It does not constitute a representative sample of the whole of Brazil nor a projection of the second round.
The distance between both candidates is 317 votes. In percentage of valid votes, Lula's lead reaches 61.08 points.
Result of Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro in New Zealand
CNN Brasil reports that 526 people went to vote in Wellington. In addition to the votes cast for the two candidates, four blank votes and three null votes were counted. The percentages of Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro are calculated based on the 519 valid votes for candidacies, not on the total number of participants.
Where to check the results of Brazil abroad
The reference for the official tally is the results portal of the Superior Electoral Court of Brazil. It is advisable to check that the query corresponds to the presidential second round of 2026 before comparing percentages or sharing a screenshot.
Poder360 explains that it obtains the first external results from the ballot box reports of the electoral sections. This information can be known before the centralized dissemination of the TSE begins, scheduled from 17:00 Brasília time.
This Sunday, after the time change in Spain, 17:00 Brasília time corresponds to 21:00 on the Peninsula and Balearic Islands and to 20:00 in the Canary Islands.
It is necessary to distinguish, therefore, three levels: the result of a table, the complete sum of a country, and the overall presidential election. An authentic report can provide correct information and, at the same time, be insufficient to describe the entire vote of a country.
| Candidate | Votes | Valid vote |
|---|---|---|
| Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva | 418 | 80.54% |
| Flávio Bolsonaro | 101 | 19.46% |
| Total valid votes | 519 | 100% |
Sources: CNN Brasil and Poder360. Result corresponding to New Zealand, not to the total foreign vote. Four blank votes and three null votes were also registered: 526 participants in total.
Why the early results do not anticipate the national winner
The early publication from New Zealand responds to the clock. It does not mean that this electorate has been selected to represent Brazilian voters.
To interpret the foreign vote, it is important to know how many people participated, which sections have been included, and whether the count is complete. A high percentage may correspond to a few hundred votes; another tighter one may come from a community with many more voters.
The percentages from different countries should not be averaged directly. To obtain the overall result, the votes for each candidate must be summed and then their proportion calculated over the total valid. Giving the same weight to countries with different electoral sizes would produce a distorted image.
How much the foreign vote weighs in Brazilian elections
According to data from the TSE collected by Poder360, 918,876 Brazilians residing abroad are eligible to vote. They represent approximately 0.58% of a national electorate of 158.7 million people. Outside Brazil, the voting corresponds to the Presidency.
This census does not equate to votes cast: participation will determine how many ballots are finally incorporated into the result. Its weight may be relevant if the national difference is narrow, but knowing the outcome of one country does not resolve the behavior of the whole.
The first verified news this morning is Lula's victory in New Zealand. The answer about who will govern Brazil requires the national count.