Paraguay election's runner-up demands recount
ASUNCION (Reuters) - The candidate who finished second in Paraguay’s presidential election said on Tuesday he had evidence of fraudulent voting and demanded a recount of ballots.
FILE PHOTO: Paraguayan presidential candidate Efrain Alegre and his wife Mirian Irun arrive for a meeting with the media in Asuncion, during national election day, Paraguay April 22, 2018. REUTERS/Jorge Adorno
Efrain Alegre, a lawyer from the center-left GANAR coalition, said on social media that the country’s official elections tribunal was too quick to announce that Mario Abdo of the conservative Colorado Party won the election.
“We already have very clear samples of fraud that we are going to denounce case by case,” Alegre said. “We are going to participate in the recount.”
FILE PHOTO: Paraguay’s newly-elected President Mario Abdo Benitez of the Colorado Party gestures while giving his speech to supporters in Asuncion, Paraguay April 22, 2018. REUTERS/Mario Valdez
International observers who monitored Sunday’s election reported no major irregularities. Abdo, a 46-year-old former senator who campaigned on an anti-corruption platform, is scheduled to be sworn in as president in mid-August.
With 97.67 percent of ballots counted on Sunday, the tribunal said Abdo won 46.44 percent to Alegre’s 42.74 percent.