BUENOS AIRES, Oct 26:The Bolivian electoral authorities counted 100 percent of the ballots cast in the presidential election amid opposition protests and the results reconfirmed that incumbent President Evo Morales secured his 4th term with 47.08 percent of the votes, the data published by the Bolivian Supreme Electoral Tribunal showed.
Late on Thursday, the tribunal released the final results based on 99.9 percent of the ballots, while 0.01 percent of the votes were marked as annulled.
In the table, published by the tribunal late on Friday, the annulled ballots line read 0 percent.
The share of votes in support for opposition candidate Carlos Mesa remained unchanged at 36.51 percent, while the number of voters supporting Morales grew by 0.01 percent.
The turnout at the election was 88.31 percent.
Under the Bolivian law, presidential candidates are required to secure at least 50 percent to avoid a run-off. If the share of votes of a leading candidate is between 40 and 50 percent, the second round can be avoided if they garner at least a 10 percent margin over their rival.
Morales’ margin over Mesa is 10.57, according to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, which means there will be no run-off.
The election was held on Sunday. Vote counting has prompted concerns of the opposition, which led to protests and unrest. Mesa has refused to recognize the vote results, too.
The Organization of American States (OAS), which was invited by the Bolivian authorities to verify the election results, has cited irregularities in the vote-counting process and advised the authorities to hold the second round of the election.
Morales, in his turn, accused the opposition of plotting to overthrow him.
(AGENCIES)
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