INCUMBENT President Nicolás Maduro has won Venezuela’s presidential election.
According to Venezuela’s National Electoral Council or CNE, Maduro secured 51.2% of the votes, which is higher compared to 44.2% for opposition candidate Edmundo González.
The CNE issued the declaration of Maduro’s victory after 80 percent of the votes at the 15,000 polling stations across Venezuela had been counted.
Maduro’s victory comes hours after the opposition reported a series of irregularities on election day, including closed polling stations, retention of electoral records, and expulsion of election monitors.
Hours before the official announcement, the Venezuelan government and the opposition claimed victory based on exit polls.
The result announced by the electoral council contradicts most pre-election polls, to recall, Opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia had been leading in the polls in the run up to Sunday’s election,
If confirmed, Maduro’s victory is likely to be contested. There is significant international pressure for the Venezuelan electoral process to be credible and transparent. Amid a tense political climate, Maduro had predicted a “bloodbath” in the country if he lost the election.
More than 21.6 million Venezuelans were eligible to vote, with the voter turnout being recorded at 59 percent, according to Venezuela’s electoral council.
Meanwhile, shortly after the announcement of the results, Maduro vowed to maintain peace, stability, and justice, in the country.
