Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles on Sunday called for a recount after Hugo Chavez's hand-picked successor Nicolas Maduro won by just over 200-thousand votes.
"We are not going to recognise any results, until each vote the the Venezuelan people is counted" said Capriles.
The National Electoral Council announced that Maduro won the election with 7,505,338 votes, 50.66 per cent of the vote, against Capriles with 7,270,403votes or 49.07 per cent.
Chavistas (followers of Chavez) set off fireworks and sounded car horns as they cruised Caracas in jubilation.
A triumphant Maduro addressed a crowd from the Miraflores presidential palace.
"There should be no doubts about the election results. The institutions are functioning. If 7,500,000 Venezuelans said that Nicolas Maduro should be the president of the republic until 2019, this must be respected; the democracy and the power of the majority," he said.
Maduro, a long-time foreign minister to Chavez, rode a wave of sympathy for the charismatic leader who died on 5 March.
"We are calling for respect of the results. If they want do an audit they are welcome to do it. They can do whatever audit they want to do. We trust in the Venezuelan electoral system. We welcome an audit," said Maduro.
Maduro's close victory came after a campaign in which he promised to carry on Chavez's self-proclaimed socialist revolution.
Capriles' main message was that Chavez's regime put Venezuela on the road to ruin and criticised the small victory obtained by his opponent.
"I say to the the candidate of the government, the one defeated is you. You and what you represent."
Millions of Venezuelans were lifted out of poverty under Chavez, but many also believe his government not only squandered, but plundered, much of the 1 (t) trillion in oil revenues during his tenure.
Turnout was 78 per cent, down from just over 80 per cent in the October election that Chavez won by a near 11-point margin.