Election authorities said that with more than 99 percent of the vote counted, Mr. Maduro had 50.6 percent to Mr. Capriles’s 49.1 percent. More than 78 percent of registered voters cast ballots.
Mr. Maduro gave a defiant speech that suggested little willingness to make concessions. “We have a just, legal, constitutional and popular electoral victory,” he said.
His opponent, Henrique Capriles Radonski, refused to recognize the results, citing irregularities in the voting and calling for a recount.
On 7 October 2012, Capriles lost the election against then President Hugo Chávez.