Maduro wins Venezuela’s presidential poll, opposition claims irregularities

National Electoral Council says Maduro secured 51% of the vote overcoming opposition candidate Edmundo González, who garnered 44%

Caracas: Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner in Venezuela‘s Presidential election on Sunday, even as his opponents were preparing to dispute the results, setting up a high-stakes showdown that will determine whether the South American nation transitions away from one party rule.

Shortly after midnight, the National Electoral Council said Maduro secured 51 per cent of the vote, overcoming opposition candidate Edmundo González, who garnered 44 per cent. It said the results were based on a tally of 80 per cent of voting stations, marking an irreversible trend.

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But the electoral authority, which is controlled by Maduro loyalists, didn’t immediately release the official tallies from each of the 15,797 voting centres nationwide, hampering the opposition’s ability to challenge the results after claiming it had the voting acts for only 30 per cent of the ballot boxes.

The delay in announcing results — six hours after polls were supposed to close — indicated a deep debate inside the government about how to proceed after Maduro’s opponents came out early in the evening all but claiming victory. Opposition representatives said tallies they collected from campaign representatives at the polling stations showed Gonzalez trouncing Maduro.

Maduro, in seeking a third term, faced his toughest challenge yet from the unlikeliest of opponents in Gonzalez: a retired diplomat who was unknown to voters before being tapped in April as a last-minute stand-in for opposition powerhouse Maria Corina Machado.

Opposition leaders were already celebrating, online and outside a few voting centres, what they assured was a landslide victory for González. “I’m so happy,” said Merling Fernández, a 31-year-old bank employee, as a representative for the opposition campaign walked out of one voting centre in a working class neighbourhood of Caracas to announce results showing González more than doubled Maduro’s vote count. Dozens standing nearby erupted in an impromptu rendition of the national anthem.

“This is the path toward a new Venezuela,” added Fernández, holding back tears. “We are all tired of this yoke.” Earlier, US Vice President Kamala Harris offered her support. “The United States stands with the people of Venezuela who expressed their voice in today’s historic presidential election,” Harris wrote on the social media platform X. “The will of the Venezuelan people must be respected.” Voters started lining up at some voting centres across the country before dawn Sunday, sharing water, coffee and snacks for several hours.

The election will have ripple effects throughout the Americas, with government opponents and supporters alike signalling their interest in joining the exodus of 7.7 million Venezuelans who have already left their homes for opportunities abroad should Maduro win another six year term.