Complex sentence: When exit polls showed Arias with a substantial lead, the government, now controlled by Manuel Noriega, halted the count and brazenly manipulated the results to declare that its candidate, Nicolás Ardito Barletta, had won by only 1,713 votes.
Split into simpler sentences: When exit polls showed Arias with a substantial lead, the government, now controlled by Manuel Noriega, halted the count. It brazenly manipulated the results and declared that its candidate, Nicolás Ardito Barletta, had won by only 1,713 votes.