-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Left-leaning Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega easily won re-election with more than double the votes of his closest rival , election officials said on Monday , amid complaints of voting irregularities . With 85 % of the ballots counted , the incumbent had 62.6 % of the vote , versus Fabio Gadea 's 30.9 % . `` I want to congratulate the current president , '' Roberto Rivas , president of the Supreme Electoral Council -LRB- CSE -RRB- , told reporters . Opposition leaders have criticized Sunday 's vote and Gadea , Ortega 's closest rival , refused to accept the results . He was known until recently as a radio-station owner and journalist and as creator of the popular Nicaraguan radio character `` Pancho Madrigal . '' `` We ca n't accept the results presented by the CSE as they do n't reflect the will of the people , '' Gadea said . According to opposition leader Eliseo Nunez of the Liberal Independent Party , 20 % of election observers had been stopped from entering polling stations . `` This has been a process plagued with irregularities , '' he said . U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland similarly weighed in Monday on reports of procedural irregularities and voter intimidation . `` Frankly , if the Nicaraguan government had nothing to hide , it should have allowed a broad compliment of international monitors , '' she told reporters in Washington . Placing third , with 6 % of votes , was former President Arnoldo Aleman . He was convicted of corruption during his term and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2003 , but in a controversial 2009 decision , the nation 's top court overturned the conviction . Nicaragua 's constitution bars presidents from being re-elected , but that did not stop Ortega from running in his sixth straight presidential race . Supporters of the president celebrated what was then his apparent re-election victory in the streets of the country 's capital Sunday night . He was first elected as president in 1984 , and ran unsuccessfully in 1990 , 1996 and 2001 before being elected again in 2006 . Ortega is known as an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and was a public supporter of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi during the Libyan uprising . But recently he has reached for the middle , making overtures to the business class and promising to lure foreign investors into the country . `` Our government program is the one in practice now and the one we have to improve , strengthen -LRB- and -RRB- develop , '' Ortega said recently . For his supporters , re-election guarantees that social and economic programs will continue . They want to see more investment in infrastructure and technology , and more public housing , projects often financed through Venezuela . Ortega came to power as part of the Sandinista rebels who overthrew the Somoza dynasty in 1979 . He represents the Sandinista National Liberation Front . His detractors accuse Ortega of having too much influence over the Supreme Electoral Council and the Supreme Court of Justice , which allowed his candidacy . Yet his popular support remains high , particularly among the country 's youth . `` The level of support shows a bit of a new generation that does not know the experience of the past , of 30 years ago , of the war that happened in Nicaragua , '' said Manuel Orozco , a senior associate at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue . CNN 's Lucia Navarro and Jack Maddox contributed to this report .