MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Morales proclaims himself as winner in the first round of the Bolivian presidential election with 47.07% of the vote

A final vote tally by Bolivia's electoral board gave President Morales an outright win in the first-round election on Thursday, with 47.07% of ballots

A final vote tally by Bolivia's electoral board gave President Evo Morales an outright win in the first-round election on Thursday, with 47.07% of ballots compared to 36.51% for runner-up Carlos Mesa, data on the board's website showed.

Morales' 10.56 point lead with 99.99% of votes counted means he does not have to face Carlos Mesa, a former president, in a riskier second round run-off, after a disputed race in which the opposition has alleged fraud and Morales has accused rivals of staging a “coup.”

A spokeswoman for Bolivia's electoral board said 0.01% votes have been voided in the region of Beni with new voting there scheduled for November. She added they are not enough to change the outcome.

The president of the electoral office in Beni said a little over 500 people will vote again due to the annulments.

With the official result, Morales, already Latin America's longest-serving president, wins a fourth term in a row, allowing him to govern the landlocked country through 2025 for a total of 19 years.

However the Organization of American States, OAS and the European Union have called for restrain in the announcement since Bolivian authorities personally requested OAS to make a vote by vote survey of results, when the Bolivian opposition accused electoral authorities of fraud and manipulation of results. This has led to a rash of protests and rioting in several cities of the country.

The OAS electoral observers team, as well as observers from the European Union had recommended that given the situation, a presidential runoff should be held in Bolivia.