The magistrate of the Federal Supreme Court of Brazil, Cristiano Zanin, has decided to extend by two hours, until 19:00 --23:00 in mainland Spain--, the voting hours of the second round of the Brazilian presidential elections in which Flávio Bolsonaro and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva face each other.
"Considering the seriousness of the facts reported, which came to the knowledge of the Federal Supreme Court at 16:32 today, and given the evident urgency of the measure, I determine to extend by two hours, until 19:00, Brasília time, the closing of the reception of votes in all sections throughout Brazil," Zanin stated.
The resolution responds to reports of incidents in the transportation of voters in different regions of the country and is adopted at the request of Lula's candidacy. Although in some polling places the counting had already begun and the scrutiny reached 0.25%, the Supreme Court has ordered an immediate halt to the counting of votes.
The decision has been made despite the rejection of the Electoral Public Ministry. "The voting hours set by law must remain unchanged, without prejudice to the investigation of the reported facts and the establishment of responsibilities," this body argued.
Bolsonaro's campaign team had also requested the extension of voting hours, but limited to five specific states: São Paulo, Santa Catarina, Paraná, Minas Gerais, and Rio Grande do Sul.
From early on, Lula's campaign has been alerting on social media about difficulties for citizens to travel to polling places in cities like Salvador, due to the reduction of public transportation service. Initially, it requested to extend voting only in that city and its metropolitan area, but later expanded the request to other territories such as Piauí, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Alagoas, Pernambuco, and Roraima.