Toribiong led Chin, who already conceded on Friday, by 216 votes before the Palau Election Commission counted 544 absentee ballots on Tuesday evening.
Chin received 274 of these votes, while Toribiong garnered 270.
The final tally: Toribiong, 5,040 votes; Chin, 4,828.
It was the closest presidential election in Palau’s history.
Palau Elections Commission Chairman Santos Borja said the final results will be certified in seven days.
Chin pledged to support Palau’s new leadership under Toribiong and Mariur, who will be sworn into office in Jan. 2009.
In the senatorial race, write-in candidate Surangel Whipps Jr. finished first with 6,730 votes.
The rest of the winning candidates are attorney Raynold Oliouch, 6,392; incumbent Sen. Mlib Tmetuchl, 5,646; Delegate Joel Toribiong, 5,403; educator and historian Kathy Kesolei, 5,240; businessman Mark Rudimch, 5,106; incumbent Sen. Hokkons Baules, 4,634; Koror State Department of Conservation and Law Enforcement Director Adalbert Eledui, 4,128; former Head Start Director Regina Mesebeluu, 3,938; incumbent Sen. Alfonso Diaz, 3,809; President Tommy Remengesau, 3,772; businessman Regis Akitaya, 3,319; and retired public utilities engineer Paul Ueki, 3,211.
Kesolei and Mesebeluu will be Palau’s first female senators.
