Brazil's Bolsonaro challenges election that Lula won

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has challenged the election he lost last month to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, according to a complaint filed with electoral authorities that alleges votes from some voting machines should be "invalidated."

Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court justice who currently leads the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), said in a ruling seen by the Reuters news agency that Bolsonaro's right-wing electoral coalition, which filed the complaint, must present its full audit for both rounds of last month's vote within 24 hours, or he would reject it.

Bolsonaro's coalition said its audit of the October 30 second-round runoff between Bolsonaro and Lula had found "signs of irreparable ... malfunction" in some electronic voting machines.

"There were signs of serious failures that generate uncertainties and make it impossible to validate the results generated" in older models of the voting machines, Bolsonaro allies said in their complaint.

As a result, they urged that the votes from those models should be "invalidated."

Bolsonaro's claim seems unlikely to get far, as Lula's victory has been ratified by TSE and acknowledged by Brazil's leading politicians and international allies.

Still, it could fuel a small but committed protest movement that has refused to accept the result.

READ MORE: Why are Brazilians protesting en masse?

Decision would add 'pessimism'

Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain, has for years claimed that the country's electronic voting system is liable to fraud without providing substantiating evidence.

Brazil's currency deepened losses after news of the electoral complaint, losing 1.5 percent against the US dollar in afternoon trading.

The real was already suffering from investor concerns about Lula's spending plans and economic policymakers.

Fernando Bergallo, head of operations at FB Capital, said Bolsonaro's bid to challenge the election results was unlikely to get far but would add "pessimism on top of everything we already have."

Bolsonaro remained publicly silent for nearly 48 hours after the election was called on October 30 and has still not conceded defeat.

However, he authorised his government to begin preparing for a presidential transition.

One of Brazil's most visible presences on social media and at public events over the last four years, Bolsonaro has nearly vanished from public view in the past three weeks, with little or no formal agenda or public statements on most days.

READ MORE: Brazil's military finds no issues with election that Bolsonaro lost