Supreme Court orders Brazil presidential vote extended by two hours

Voting in Brazil’s presidential election will continue for another two hours after the Supreme Court ordered an extension of the process. Under the original plan, polling stations were due to close at 5 p.m.

Both candidates called for voters to be given more time. Flavio Bolsonaro, the conservative candidate and son of convicted former president Jair Bolsonaro, called for voting to be extended in three states, citing poor weather conditions. Outgoing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, meanwhile, asked election authorities to extend the process in nine states after his campaign reported disruptions to public transport.

Many Brazilians rely on public transport to travel to the cities where they are registered and cast their votes. In Bahia, a Lula stronghold in northeastern Brazil, a court ordered the arrest of a senior transport official in Salvador on suspicion of ordering restrictions on bus services.

The outgoing president told reporters that no one should be deprived of their vote because of the efforts of an unscrupulous businessman or a corrupt and dishonest mayor to prevent citizens from voting.