Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was re-elected Sunday to a new six-year term, overcoming an energetic challenge by a candidate backed by an opposition coalition, according to nearly complete results announced by election officials.
Chavez, who has been president since 1999, defeated Henrique Capriles Radonski, whose campaign criticized the Chavez administration for inefficiencies, infrastructure shortcomings and corruption.
Chavez highlighted his accomplishments in housing, education and health initiatives and acknowledged he need to do more on crime and government bureaucracy.
With 90% of the ballots counted Sunday night, Chavez has 54.42% of the vote compared with 44.97% for Capriles, according to Tibisay Lucena, president of the National Electoral Council.
Chavez had secured 7.4 million votes and Capriles 6.1 million votes, election officials said.
The country saw one of its high participation rates in decades, with almost 81% of voters going to the polls, Lucena said.
In fact, some polls were kept open two hours after their scheduled closing because of lines of voters waited for ballots.
As throughout the day, the army was still deployed Sunday evening and was standing by throughout the country to ensure a peaceful and secure vote, said Maj. Gen. Wilmer Barrientos, commander of strategic operations command.
Earlier in the evening, Chavez thanked his campaign staff in a phone call aired on state-run television at mid-evening and asked people to remain calm until the election results were completed. Chavez said people were still voting in some places.
"Let us wait for the results patiently, calmly and prepare ourselves to accept the results whatever they may be," he said.
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