Polygraph

A Brazilian Supreme Court justice extended the voting time by two hours in the presidential election.

Posted by REAL AF with Andy Frisella, Checked

Polygraph verdictTrue
Sources
3 support2 context
Said
1 time·
Confidence
95%
REAL AF with Andy FrisellaOct 28, 2026
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78 claimsThe check →

Multiple tier1 outlets (Reuters, AP, BBC) confirm that Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin extended Brazil's October 25, 2026 presidential runoff voting by two hours, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Brasilia time, after a request from Lula's campaign; the claim matches the passage's wording.

What was said

… Um, but something weird happened, right? Something weird happened. So they in Brazil, they have this deadline for your elections, right? Like, at, you know, let's call it 8 p.m., done. No more counting votes. That's it. Well, something happened to where they were able to get a Supreme Court justice to extend the voting, um, for two hours. And the Supreme Court justice just so happened to be Lula's personal lawyer. Also, they have a history there. And, ah, extended the voting by two hours. Voting got extended two hours. Next thing you know, um, you got Lula winning, right? …
REAL AF with Andy Frisella · · from the transcriptPost →

What we found

Supports. Reuters reports that Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin accepted Lula's campaign request and extended polls by two hours, closing at 7 p.m. instead of 5 p.m.[1]

Supports. The BBC live coverage states that the Supreme Court issued a two-hour extension to voting hours in the runoff, with polls now closing at 19:00 local time.[3]

Supports. AP reports that a last-minute decision to extend voting by two hours caused chaos at polling places, and that Bolsonaro later refused to concede.[2]

Context. Sources note the extension was requested by both campaigns and that Zanin acted on Lula's complaint about bus transportation in Bahia cities; the TSE president said the ruling did not affect the outcome.[4][5]

Sources

5 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 1 tier 1, 2 not rated

  1. 1Brazil pauses presidential vote count after Supreme Court extends voting hoursreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
  2. 2Brazil votes in a tense Lula vs Bolsonaro runoff as extended ...apnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
  3. 3Brazil elections: Polls remain open after last-minute extension in election run-off between Lula and Bolsonaro's sonbbc.com · tier 1 · cited for: supports
  4. 4Brazil's election left hanging as judge extends vote after ...scmp.com · not rated · cited for: context
  5. 5Court-ordered voting extension sparks election controversyvalorinternational.globo.com · not rated · cited for: context

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