• Bolivia.Evo Morales enrocates in the purest Venezuelan style
  • Elections Evo Morales would not need a second round to be president, according to the questioned electoral count

The electoral body of Bolivia closed on Friday the counting of votes of the elections, which confirm the victory in the first round of President Evo Morales against the opponent Carlos Mesa with a sufficient percentage to avoid the dispute of a second

The calculation had been pending only 0.01 percent of the count, corresponding to four voting minutes in the Amazon region of Beni, which were included to close it one hundred percent giving that minimum percentage remaining to Evo Morales.

The president, a candidate for re-election by the government Movement for Socialism (MAS), is left with 47.8 percent of the votes, compared to 36.51 by the opposition Carlos Mesa, of the Citizen Community alliance.

This difference of 10.57 percent is enough for the president to win in the first round, with only a 0.57 margin, after the elections last Sunday.

The electoral law requires 50 percent of the votes plus one or 40 with 10 points of advantage over the second to win in the first round, but when these percentages are not achieved, it goes to the second round between the two most voted.

The Supreme Electoral Court, which did not report since last Wednesday, unexpectedly convened an appearance before the media on Friday afternoon at its headquarters in La Paz.

Mesa has warned that he will not recognize these results because he considers them fraudulent because the electoral body is at the service of the president, so he demands a second round with Morales.

The United Nations, the Organization of American States, the European Union, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and the United States, among others, support that second round to clear suspicions of fraud.

The Bolivian president, who defends his victory and challenges the international community to demonstrate "vote by vote" the manipulation of results, has received the support of political allies such as Cuba, Russia and Venezuela.

Bolivia lives a day of work stoppages in support of the opposition's request and civic movements for a new appointment at the polls, and that is currently being carried out with blockades in the main cities of the country but without notable incidents.

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