Original sentence: According to current Constitution the highest authority in the department is the prefect (prefecto, similar to a governor but with restricted powers).By law, the election of councilors is an attribution of municipalities.Each of the department's provinces  returns at least one councilor, while remaining councilors are assigned to provinces on population basis.However, some municipalities such as Camiri (Province of Cordillera) or Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Province of Andrés Ibáñez) have issued internal norms (ordenanzas) in order to have their councilors elected by popular vote.In May 2008, the government of Santa Cruz began conducting a referendum for autonomy from the federal government over, among other things, strains between the local government and President Evo Morales.Partial results from the referendum showed that 82% of participating voters supported autonomy, but no figures are yet available regarding the turnout (which would be crucial for the legitimacy of the referendum).Santa Cruz also has a Departmental Council (Consejo Departamental, similar to a state legislature but with restricted powers) of 23 members called councilors (consejeros).Since 2005, the prefect has been elected by popular vote to serve for a five-year term; prior to this change, the prefect was appointed by the President of the Republic
Edited sentence: Despite the goverments denial to accept the results in the referendum, the authorities of Santa Cruz have proceeded with the implementation of this new form of regional government.However, this new change in Santa Cruz´s governing structure is denied by the actual government, run by President Evo Morales Ayma, although the option for proceeding with this change won in the referendum by an overwhelming 85,6% of the total votes.Previously, the highest authority was the prefect, or "prefecto", who only had limited powers.Since May 4 2008, after a referendum that took place in the department of Sant Cruz that led to this change, the highest authority in the department is the governer (with similar powers to those of their U.The conclusion of this dispute remains uncertain, and experts share the opinion that much of it depends mostly on the running goverment´s actions