Supreme Court of Bolivia completes 100% of the electoral count

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(CNN Spanish) - The president of the Supreme Court of Bolivia announced that 100% of the counting of the election in the country was completed.

According to the calculation of the Plurinational Electoral Body, the Movement to Socialism party of Evo Morales obtained 47.08% of the votes, while the Citizen Community of the candidate Carlos Mesa obtained 36.51%.

If we subtract those numbers we find that Morales has an advantage over Mesa over 10 points. And the electoral law of Bolivia establishes that it is not going to a second round when the first candidate obtains more than 40% of the votes and there is a difference between the first and the second candidate greater than 10% of the votes counted.

In seven days the full official results would be given with the formal winner, they said.

MIRA: This is Bolivia: its economy, politics and social situation

On Thursday, the president and presidential candidate of Bolivia, Evo Morales, assured the media that he won the first round of the presidential elections in his country. Morales said there are still some votes to be counted, but he declared himself the winner of last Sunday's elections. Morales and former president Carlos Mesa were the candidates with the highest number of votes in the elections this Sunday, but the scrutiny of the minutes has sparked the controversy as the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Bolivia interrupted the transmission of data at one point at night.

Carlos Mesa has reported irregularities. He made a video calling on the international community to avoid a dictatorship in Bolivia. Mesa says that Evo Morales' third term would be illegitimate.

Message to my countrymen. pic.twitter.com/DR3sFyBbNc

- Carlos D. Mesa Gisbert (@carlosdmesag) October 25, 2019

In an interview with Fernando del Rincón in Conclusions on Thursday, Carlos Mesa said "fraud is being consummated and ratified." The opponent points out that “this result breaks all legitimacy of an eventual government of Evo Morales; I would be an illegitimate president. ”

Mesa says that what follows is to maintain democratic and peaceful marches.

Following Evo Morales's remarks that a coup d'etat was brewing, Mesa points out Morales is the one who makes the coup because he usurps functions that do not compete with him because he concentrates the four powers of the State.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Diego Pary told CNN "there is no gigantic fraud, there is a gigantic defeat of Carlos Mesa that he does not want to accept."

Meanwhile, the OAS recognizes that there is inconsistency in the vote count of the elections in Bolivia held last Sunday, and the organization requests a second round of elections.

As the #OEAenBolivia Mission said, allowing the people to express themselves in a second round is the most democratic exit and an opportunity to avoid a political and social confrontation in the country. My words today at @CP_OEA pic.twitter.com/r0JzGychzY

- Luis Almagro (@ Almagro_OEA2015) October 24, 2019

Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the OAS, said Thursday afternoon that the results of the general elections in Bolivia cannot be considered “legitimate” until the audit requested by the Government of Evo Morales has been completed.

The European Union also called for a second round to restore confidence in the results.

The controversy becomes relevant if the concerns of some Bolivians are taken into account when remembering that the government of President Evo Morales did not respect the result of the February 2016 referendum that for 51.3% of the votes rejected a new re-election of the president.

In September 2017, a group of legislators of the official Movement to Socialism presented an unconstitutional agreement before the Bolivian Constitutional Court against several articles of the Electoral Regime Law that allowed Evo Morales to run again in 2019.

In November 2017, a ruling by the Constitutional Court enabled Morales to launch indefinitely to the presidency of Bolivia on the grounds that it is a human right.

In December 2018, the Electoral Court officially authorized Evo Morales as a candidate.

The Bolivian Constitution, approved during the Evo Morales administration, only allows two consecutive presidential terms.

With information from Gloria Carrasco

Bolivia Vote 2019 Carlos MesaEvo Morales