Venezuelans anxiously await election results

Polls in Venezuela’s presidential election seeking a third term for Nicolas Maduro of the ruling socialist PSUV party have begun.

Polling stations were scheduled to close at 18:00 local time (22:00 GMT), but were expected to remain open if people were still queuing to vote.

Mr Maduro’s main challenger is Edmundo González, a former diplomat backed by a coalition of opposition parties.

Amid widespread fears that the PSUV would try to steal votes, the opposition called on supporters to remain vigilant at their polling stations to check the counting process in the “crucial hours” after the vote ends.

Opinion polls showed Mr González with a wide lead over the incumbent, but there are fears the outcome of the election could be skewed, with Mr Maduro’s 2018 re-election widely dismissed as not free or fair. Maduro’s way.

Opponents of the president have faced several hurdles ahead of the election, with their chosen candidate María Corina Machado barred from running for office.

Ms Machado, who has led the opposition campaign, reminded voters that the counting process must be legally public.

He called on “all Venezuelans to be at their polling stations… to be vigilant.”

The PSUV has been in power in Venezuela for the past 25 years – first under the late Hugo Chávez and then under his hand-picked successor, Mr Maduro.

Under their leadership, the PSUV gained control not only of the executive and legislature but also of much of the judiciary.

Since he took over as president in 2013, Mr Maduro has presided over an economic collapse during which gross domestic product has shrunk by 70% and more than 7.7 million people have left the country in search of a better life.

If he wins, Mr Gonzalez said he would do “everything possible” to bring back those who left.

But Mr Maduro has said he wants to win the election “by hook or by crook” and warned of a “bloodbath” if he loses.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) – the body that organizes elections and announces the official result – is dominated by government loyalists.

Its leader, Elvis Amoroso, is a close personal ally of Mr Maduro.

Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, but its oil production has plummeted under President Maduro – the result of a lack of investment, mismanagement and oil embargoes.

The lifting of oil embargoes – imposed by the US to put pressure on Mr Maduro following the 2018 presidential election – could have ramifications for oil prices globally.

Electronic voting in Venezuela. Voters punch a button on a voting machine assigned to their preferred candidate.

Electronic results are sent to CNE headquarters, but the voting machine prints a paper receipt, which is placed in a ballot box.

By law, parties are allowed to send witnesses to the number of these paper receipts conducted at each polling station.

It is these numbers that the opposition is monitoring to see if they are on par with the results announced by the CNE.