President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Brazil’s Oct. 25 runoff after preliminary results put him behind Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro in the first round, while the role of a large WhatsApp campaign channel in the outcome remains unmeasured.
Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE) recorded 64,256,232 votes for Lula and 59,826,041 for Bolsonaro in the runoff, a margin of 4,430,191. In the first-round tally, with 99.99% of ballots counted, Bolsonaro had led by 2,227,651 votes.
SBT News reported that “Exército do Lula,” a WhatsApp channel administered by Federal Deputy André Janones, reached 10 million followers on Oct. 23. The outlet said Janones used the channel to distribute campaign material and organize requests for followers to share posts. EconoTimes previously covered the channel’s audience growth before the runoff.
The follower total shows the channel’s reach on the platform, but it does not reveal how many voters viewed or shared its posts, or whether the content affected their choices. TSE election figures track votes and participation; they do not connect changes in either measure to a particular campaign channel.
Turnout increased by 2,960,239 voters between the two rounds, while abstention declined from 21.08% to 19.22%, according to TSE figures. Those numbers show that participation changed, but not what prompted people to vote or which candidate they supported.
Flávio Bolsonaro’s campaign accused Janones of coordinating false and offensive content through the channel. On Oct. 10, the TSE electoral inspector sought more details from Bolsonaro before considering interim requests, including a possible suspension. That step did not resolve the accusation.
