MONTEVIDEO, Nov 25 (NNN-Xinhua) — The results of Uruguay’s presidential runoff on Sunday were a virtual tie and too close to call, local media and electoral officials have said.
According to Uruguayan daily El Pais, the Electoral Court said the winner would be announced sometime between “Thursday and Friday,” given that the difference came down to some 30,000 votes.
With 98.1 percent of the votes tallied, opposition candidate Luis Lacalle Pou of the conservative National Party (PN) led the race with 48.73 percent versus 47.49 percent for the candidate of the ruling progressive Broad Front (FA), Daniel Martinez.
Lacalle Pou garnered 1,145,454 votes while Martinez received 1,116,112 votes.
“We will resume the recount on Tuesday,” President of the Electoral Court Jose Arocena said.
The FA came on top in the first-round vote on Oct. 27 with 40 percent of the votes out of a crowded field of candidates.
However, Lacalle Pou, son of former President Luis Alberto Lacalle, was considered the favorite going into the runoff, as the candidate of a coalition of five center-right parties that united behind him.
Lacalle Pou garnered 29 percent in the initial round, but picked up another 23 percent when two other major parties threw their support behind him.
The winner will take office on March 1, 2020 for a five-year term.
Some 2.7 million Uruguayans were eligible to vote for a successor to President Tabare Vazquez. — NNN-XINHUA
