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Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa confirmed Tuesday that with the recount requested by the right-wing opposition, former presidential candidate Guillermo Lasso lost 100 votes, while President elect Lenin Moreno gained an additional 143 votes.
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After coming in 2 percent behind Moreno in the April 2 run-off vote, Lasso alleged the elections were fraudulent, basing his claims largely on favorable exit polls that has projected a win for him and his running mate Andres Paez. Days later, after the National Electoral Council, known as CNE, officially delcared Moreno the winner with more than 99 percent of votes counted, Lasso requested a vote-by-vote recount.
In response to the complaints, the CNE recounted 296,340 votes from ballots with inconsistencies in five provinces. CNE President Juan Pablo Pozo announced that the percentage of votes won by each candidate "remained identical" to the original official results.
The electoral authority confirmed the results with Lenin Moreno winning 5,060,424 votes or 51.15 percent and Lasso — who hasn't accepted the results after more than a week — receiving 4,833,828 votes or 48.85 percent.
"The elections have been impeccable, and they know it, why do they continue with this farce?" wrote Correa on his Twitter account.
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Correa also recalled that the opposition alleged fraud in the first round of elections held on Feb. 19, but "never filed any complaint."
"They do it in the second round, just to look ridiculous," said Correa.
On Tuesday, police cleared the road outside the CNE in Quito, where a group of Lasso supporters was demanding a recount of the votes.
"With order and without excesses, a group of people was removed from outside the CNE," announced the Interior Ministery in a statement.
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