LA PAZ, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Bolivian incumbent President Evo Morales won the first round of presidential election on Sunday, but appeared unable to avoid a runoff, according to preliminary results.
With 83 percent of the votes counted, Morales of the Movement to Socialism party garnered 45 percent of the votes compared with 38 percent for his closest rival and former President Carlos Mesa of the Citizen Community alliance, said the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.
To win outright, Bolivian law requires a candidate to get more than 50 percent of the vote or more than 40 percent of the vote with a 10-percent lead over the nearest rival to avoid a runoff, which will be held on Dec. 15 if there needs to be one.
A total of nine candidates are in the running, and the main contenders are Morales and Mesa.
More than 7 million Bolivians were registered to vote for a continuation of Morales' presidency or a change in the government, as well as all 130 members of the Chamber of Deputies and 36 members of the Senate.
Morales, the country's first indigenous president, took office first in January 2006. If he wins again this time, he will serve an unprecedented fourth five-year term.
