The head of Brazil's electoral court on Wednesday rejected a complaint from President Jair Bolsonaro's party to challenge October's run-off vote, which the incumbent narrowly lost to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Reuters reported.
The judge, Alexandre de Moraes, also fined the parties in Bolsonaro's coalition to the tune of 22.9 million reais for what the court described as bad faith litigation.
Bolsonaro on Tuesday challenged the election, arguing votes from some machines should be "invalidated".
Bolsonaro has still not conceded defeat in the election, although he authorized his government to begin preparing for a presidential transition.
Bolsonaro, who has been dubbed the “Trump of Brazil”, is a close friend of Israel but came under fire during his term in office for his incendiary speech, his testing of democratic institutions, his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the worst deforestation in the Amazon rainforest in 15 years.
He also had a fractious relationship with the media, frequently singling out specific newspapers and journalists for his ire.
The Brazilian Press Association announced in 2020 it would file a lawsuit in Brazil's Supreme Court against Bolsonaro over possibly exposing members of the media to COVID-19.
The association, known as ABI, alleged Bolsonaro did not respect the health safety distance from reporters and took off his mask at a televised press conference in which he announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19.