The National Electoral Council said on Monday that more than 99 percent of the ballots had been counted and the results were “irreversible.” The council also asked the people and the opposition to respect the outcome of the polls.

Maduro said he had won “a just, legal and constitutional victory.” He added that he was open to an audit. However, Capriles stated that he did not recognize the official results, saying instead that Maduro had lost the election.

Capriles also alleged voting irregularities and demanded a vote recount.

Meanwhile, in front of celebrating supporters Maduro said, “This was the first time without the giant candidate, but he left behind his ‘son’, who is now going to be president and is going to show he is worthy of the fatherland.”

Hand-picked by Venezuela’s late President Hugo Chavez to be his successor, Maduro has promised to continue the socialist policies of the former leader, who lost a two-year battle with cancer on March 5.

A vote that close requires a recount.

Fair. Remember, though, that most polls were predicting a Maduro victory and the election was witnessed by international observers. The Chavistas expected a decent margin of victory. Let's respect the results, which no doubt is good news for Guyanese consumers of oil and for rice farmers who have a stake in the Venezuelan market. Also, we can count on Maduro who, like Chavez, will not raise the dreaded border issue.

Venezuela’s chief justice rejects appeal for vote recount

The head of the country's Supreme Court, Chief Justice Luisa Morales, said on Wednesday that manual vote counting was not possible, citing the country's 1999 constitution that "eliminated the manual electoral process."

"In Venezuela the electoral system is completely automated. Therefore, a manual count does not exist. Anyone who thought that could really happen has been deceived," she said.

"The majority of those who are asking for a manual count know it and are clear about it. Elections are not audited ballot by ballot but through the system," she added.

Socialist Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of Venezuela's presidential election on Sunday. He won 50.7 percent of the vote against 49.1 percent for opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, a difference of 235,000 ballots.

Capriles said he did not recognize the official results, claiming that there were more than 300,000 incidents from Sunday's poll that would need to be examined.

Since the electoral authority declared Maduro the winner, the opposition has staged several violent protests, which has left at least seven people dead and over 60 others injured.

Capriles cancelled a planned protest march for Wednesday after Maduro vowed he would not allow the rally to go ahead.

On March 8, Maduro became Venezuela’s acting president, following the death of late President Hugo Chavez, who lost a two-year-long battle with cancer on March 5.

Maduro has promised to continue the socialist policies of the former leader.