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Ruling party winner after South Africa finishes count

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's election commission has completed a vote count that confirms the ruling African National Congress as the winner but also shows the strengthening of prominent opposition groups.

The election commission said Saturday, May 10, that, with all 22,000 voting districts counted, the African National Congress had 62.15 percent of the vote, several percentage points lower than its result in 2009 elections. The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, won 22.23 percent of the vote, an increase of more than 5 percent from 2009. The Economic Freedom Fighters, a new party that wants to distribute national resources to the poor, won 6.35 percent.

Voter turnout was 73 percent of the 25 million South Africans, or half the population, who registered for the national and provincial elections.

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