President Nicolas Maduro has been declared the winner of Venezuela’s presidential election, even as his opponents were preparing to dispute the results.
The dispute sets up a high-stakes showdown that will determine whether the South American nation transitions away from one-party rule.
Elvis Amoroso, head of the National Electoral Council, said Mr Maduro secured 51% of the vote, overcoming opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, who garnered 44%. He said the results were based on 80% of voting stations, marking an irreversible trend.
It came as opposition leaders were celebrating, online and outside a few voting centres, what they saw as a landslide victory for Mr Gonzalez.
Their hope was boosted by exit polls – which are not allowed under Venezuelan law – showing a healthy margin of victory for Mr Gonzalez.
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 Mr Maduro’s opponents came out early in the evening all but claiming victory.
The electoral authority, which is controlled by Maduro loyalists, has yet to release the official voting tallies from each of the 30,000 polling centres, hampering the opposition’s ability to verify the results.
Opposition representatives said tallies they collected from campaign representatives at 30% of voting centres showed Mr Gonzalez trouncing the president.
The head of the electoral council said it would release the official voting acts in the coming hours.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States has “serious concerns” about the announced result.
“It’s critical that every vote be counted fairly and transparently that the electoral authorities immediately share information with the opposition and independent observers without delay and that the electoral authorities publish the tabulation of votes,” he said.
Chilen President Gabriel Boric described the results as “difficult to believe”.
Mr Maduro seeking a third term, faced his toughest challenge yet from the unlikeliest of opponents – a retired diplomat who was unknown to voters before becoming a last-minute stand-in for opposition powerhouse Maria Corina Machado, who was blocked by the Maduro-controlled supreme court from running for any office for 15 years in April.
After voting, Mr Maduro said he would recognise the election result and urged all other candidates to publicly declare that they would do the same.
“No one is going to create chaos in Venezuela,” he said. “I recognise and will recognise the electoral referee, the official announcements and I will make sure they are recognised.”
Voters started lining up at some voting centres across the country before dawn Sunday, sharing water, coffee and snacks for several hours.
