Key Events of the Past Week (October 18 — October 25) 🇧🇷 President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Brazil’s presidential runoff on October 25, securing approximately 51.8% of the vote against Flávio Bolsonaro’s 48.2%. Bolsonaro refused to concede and called for the results to be annulled following an extension of voting hours. 🇷🇸 Serbia’s Republic Electoral Commission reported on October 26 that the Student List received 52.65% of the vote, compared with 39.22% for United Serbia. Aleksandar Vučić conceded defeat on election night, acknowledging the student-backed movement’s victory. 🇧🇬 Bulgaria held the first round of its presidential election on October 25. Initial results indicated that Iliana Iotova and Andrey Gyurov would advance to a November 1 runoff, with neither candidate securing an outright victory. 🇮🇱 Israel’s final pre-election polls, published on October 23, showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition falling short of a parliamentary majority ahead of the October 27 vote. Netanyahu sought stronger public backing from US President Donald Trump during the campaign’s closing days. 🇺🇸 More than 12.6 million Americans had already voted in the November 3 midterm elections by October 20. Georgia and Virginia led reporting states in early participation relative to their total turnout in the 2022 midterms, although different voting schedules limit direct comparisons between states. 🇺🇸 On October 22, the US Supreme Court allowed New Hampshire to fully exclude student identification cards as acceptable voter identification for the midterm elections. The decision followed litigation over the state’s identification rules and their implementation. 🇨🇦 Alberta held its provincial referendum on October 19. Voters rejected initiating the constitutional process for a further referendum on separation, choosing instead to remain part of Canada. Telegram | Facebook | Instagram