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Morales wins in Bolivia's presidential election in first round

Carlos Mesa came in second with 36.52% of votes

Bolivian President Evo Morales Mikhail Metzel/TASS

Bolivian President Evo Morales

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

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Bolivian president leading election race, says Electoral Organ

TASS, October 25. /TASS/. Bolivia's incumbent presdient Evo Morales has been re-elected in the first round of presidential election after 99.81% of ballots were counted, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on Friday citing Bolivia's electoral board.

Morales received 47.06% of votes while his runner-up Carlos Mesa earned 36.52% of votes. Since Morales received the number of votes that exceeds those of Mesa's by more than 10 percentage points, the second round of election is not needed.

Presidential and parliamentary elections in Bolivia were held on Sunday. Preliminary results were announced four hours after polling stations closed. After the announcement, Mesa said that there should be a second round of presidential elections. Morales then said that the votes that had not been counted yet guarantee him victory in the first round. According to Bolivia's electoral laws, the second round of presidential elections is not needed if one candidate receives over 50% of votes, or above 40% of votes if the runner-up is behind by at least 10 percentage points.

Protests flared up in Bolivia after preliminary results of elections were announced. On Wednesday, Morales declared a state of emergency in Bolivia and accused the opposition of attempting to stage a coup.

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