When buses stopped running on Brazil election day, 'Lula's Army' grabbed their car keys
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Army → stop → keys
When buses in the northeastern Brazilian city of Salvador inexplicably stopped running last Sunday, history teacher Martins Mafra grabbed his car keys and set off to pick up stranded voters across town.
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Mafra → stop → town
Mafra's efforts in Salvador, the capital of Bahia state, were part of a massive get-out-the-vote drive across Brazil that helped power leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to an unprecedented fourth term.
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that → get → term
Lula supporters, shocked by right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro's first-round lead, quickly mobilized as the prospect sank in that the Bolsonaro clan could return to power.
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clan → shock → power
They used innovative social media initiatives, free taxi rides and grassroots campaigning to secure the incumbent president over 10 million more votes in the runoff.
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They → use → runoff
"I'm a father, and I work in education, so this was an opportunity to teach and show that we can make a difference," said Mafra, who offered rides to supporters of all stripes.
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who → work → stripes
"It's one thing to stay home complaining about city hall or posting videos online; it's another thing to get up, walk out the door, and actually do something.
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it → stay → something
Bolsonaro, son of jailed former President Jair Bolsonaro, fled this week to the US, where he declared himself the legitimate "leader" of Brazil, questioning the credibility of Lula's 10 million-vote leap.
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himself → jail → leap
Bolsonaro also questioned a two-hour voting extension, requested by Lula's campaign and granted by a Lula-appointed Supreme Court justice, due to the out-of-service buses in Bahia.
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Bolsonaro → question → Bahia
Bolsonaro's campaign also sought an extension due to rains in conservative-leaning southern states, and the extension had little bearing on the result, the federal electoral court said.
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court → seek → result
LULA STRONGHOLD
Bahia, a populous Lula stronghold, was the state with the highest fall in abstention rates between both rounds, with nearly 400,000 more people voting in the runoff.
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people → vote → runoff
Almost a quarter of those additional voters came from Salvador, a city of over 2.5 million people where Lula won 73% of runoff votes.
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Lula → come → votes
Salvador resident Gabriel Mercury, 41, son of Brazilian pop star Daniela Mercury, was one of those who helped orchestrate the turnaround.
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who → help → turnaround
The Lula voter watched with concern as the leftist underperformed in the first round, and decided to do something about it.
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leftist → watch → it
He began by inviting undecided voters to have coffee with him and talk politics.
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He → begin → politics
Later, he offered cash rewards of up to 2,400 reais ($445.67) to anyone who could name a single Bolsonaro legislative proposal that had benefited workers.
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that → offer → workers
Nobody took him up on the offer.
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Nobody → take → offer
LULA OVERHAULS CAMPAIGN
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LULA → overhaul → CAMPAIGN
After the underwhelming first round, Lula's team sought to reboot a campaign marred by infighting, mixed messaging and the complacency of incumbency, aides said.
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aides → seek → incumbency
Aware that no presidential candidate had ever been elected after trailing in the initial vote, the 81-year-old Lula bought his first ever smartphone to reach Brazilians on the platforms that increasingly shape Brazil's political debate.
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that → elect → debate
Meanwhile, lawmaker Andre Janones, who helped Lula beat Jair Bolsonaro in 2022, rapidly expanded a WhatsApp channel he called "Lula's Army."
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he → help → channel
By instructing followers to recruit friends and amplify Lula content online, he grew the channel from roughly 50,000 people ahead of the first round to over 10 million by the runoff.
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he → instruct → runoff
Dharma political risk consultant Creomar de Souza said Lula's team, and particularly Janones, successfully pounced on missteps by Bolsonaro to convince voters he would threaten Brazil's democracy, reverse social advances and slash welfare payments on which millions of Brazilians depend.
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millions → say → Brazilians
As the runoff approached, polls showed Lula closing the gap on Bolsonaro.
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Lula → approach → Bolsonaro
By election day, they were tied.
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they → tie → day
In Salvador, Mercury began to believe Lula could win.
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Lula → begin → Salvador
Then, early on Sunday, Salvador's bus network ground to a halt.
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network → grind → halt
In Brazil, public authorities are required to provide free public transport on election day.
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authorities → require → day
But reports from across Salvador, where Mayor Bruno Reis supported Bolsonaro, suggested many buses were not running.
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buses → support → Bolsonaro
Inspectors from the Bahia consumer protection agency found 944 buses idling in Salvador depots.
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buses → find → depots
Jaime Barreiros Neto, the Bahia electoral court's judicial analyst, estimated at least 30% of the fleet was not operating.
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% → estimate → fleet
Reis blamed the outage on Lula stickers that had been placed on buses in violation of electoral rules.
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that → blame → rules
As soon as city hall realized sticker removal efforts were causing a bottleneck, it immediately ordered the fleet released, he said in a press conference on Sunday.
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he → realize → Sunday
Reis told Reuters he supported Bolsonaro in the runoff in accordance with his party, União Brasil.
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he → tell → party
He denied detaining public transport or hindering voter mobility, saying the stickering of the buses held up the fleet.
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stickering → deny → fleet
Bahia’s electoral court ordered the arrest of Salvador’s transportation chief, Pablo Souza, over the absent buses.
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court → order → buses
It revoked the order once voting had ended the following day, but demanded a probe into the incident.
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voting → revoke → incident
Souza, who was in Paris on an official visit during the day of the vote, denied wrongdoing.
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who → deny → wrongdoing
He told Reuters the number of buses was the same as during the first round, and in line with electoral regulations.
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number → tell → regulations
As news of idling buses rippled through Salvador, Mercury and five friends asked their social media followers to drive people to voting stations.
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Mercury → idle → stations
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
