LA PAZ, Bolivia, Oct 22 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) – Bolivia’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), said, it will resume counting ballots at midday, following Sunday’s closely-watched general elections.
A rapid count late Sunday showed the incumbent, President Evo Morales, won, but not by enough to avoid a runoff on Dec 15.
With 83 percent of the votes counted, Morales of the Movement Towards Socialism, garnered a little over 45 percent of the votes, compared to 38 percent for his closest rival, ex-president, Carlos Mesa of the Citizen Community Party.
To win outright, Bolivian law requires a candidate to get more than 50 percent of the vote or more than 40 percent of the vote with a 10-percent lead over his or her closest rival.
The remainder of the votes were distributed among seven other candidates.
Election officials still have some 16 percent of ballots to tabulate, a scenario that has generated expectation among both the ruling and opposition parties.
Both Morales and Mesa have thanked voters for their support as they await the official outcome.
Nearly seven million Bolivians were registered to vote, for a continuation of Morales’ presidency, or a change in government, as well as, the 130 members of the Chamber of Deputies, 36 members of the Senate and nine regional representatives, that comprise the Legislative Assembly, for the 2020-2025 period.– NNN-PRENSA LATINA