In Brazil’s election, the referee outshone the players

Almost two weeks removed from the most contested presidential election in Brazilian history, President Jair Bolsonaro’s worst threats have not materialized. Although he failed to explicitly concede defeat, Mr. Bolsonaro has also not openly challenged the election result, which saw Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva win an unprecedented third term. 

An orderly transition of power is already underway. And, with Mr. Bolsonaro’s post-election seclusion, Lula has been able to shift the center of gravity in Brazilian politics even before taking office. 

The scenario could have been different, however, were it not for one man: Alexandre de Moraes, a Supreme Court justice who this year also took the role of Brazil’s chief electoral judge. 

After the 2018 election saw electoral officials caught playing catch-up with misinformation rings, Justice Moraes sought to take a much more resolute approach to the spread of false information online. 

Even before taking the helm of the Superior Electoral Court, Justice Moraes warned politicians that “everyone knows what happened in 2018,” adding that the court wouldn’t tolerate the same behavior under his watch. And on many occasions, he crossed the red line of censorship in the pursuit of his goal.

He also tackled sectors of the government head on which, in alignment with Jair Bolsonaro, adopted a rather unorthodox approach to Election Day.

On October 30, when Brazilians went to the polls for the runoff election, the Federal Highway Police (PRF) conducted an unusually large number of operations in several Brazilian states — 80 percent more than in the first round of the vote. 

They caused traffic jams in mostly rural areas and were heavily present in the Lula-leaning Northeast region. Lula’s campaign requested the Superior Electoral Court to subpoena the head of PRF for what it understood to be attempted voter suppression.

The night before, hours before the polls opened, Justice Moraes had banned the force from conducting any operations related to public transportation until the elections were over.  

The PRF operations were a direct defiance of Justice Moraes’ order. Moreover, they led hundreds of Lula supporters on social media to ask for the closing of polls to be delayed.

In a highly-anticipated press conference that afternoon, Justice Moraes was very clear: the election would not be extended. Polls would close at 5 pm, as usual. 

He had just spoken with PRF head Silvinei Vasques, who assured him the road operations did not stop voters from reaching the polls. Brazilian law guarantees that voters who arrive at polling stations by 5 pm will be able to cast their ballots, regardless of how long...