Daniel Ortega last night refused to declare victory despite results that appeared to show him taking back the country's presidency.
After meeting with former US president Jimmy Carter last night, Mr Ortega, once leader of Nicaragua's Sandinista Marxist revolutionaries, called on Nicaraguans to be patient, saying: "No one wins until the electoral council says so."
Three out of his four rivals also refused to cede defeat, but the last-place Eden Pastora, a former Contra rebel, said it was obvious Mr Ortega had won.
Nicaragua's electoral council was expected to release an update on the vote count later today. Under law, a winner doesn't have to be declared until November 23rd.
With more than 60 per cent of the vote counted, Mr Ortega had 39 per cent to the 31 per cent of his chief rival, Harvard-educated banker Eduardo Montealegre.
If confirmed, the eight percentage-point difference was more than enough to avoid a tough runoff against Mr Montealegre.
Mr Ortega's supporters celebrated in the streets yesterday, with caravans and cars filing into the capital, honking, waving party flags and blasting the Sandinista campaign song, set to the tune of John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance".
AP