Nicolas Maduro wins Venezuela's presidential election - after 80 % ballots were counted, 51.2 % voted for Maduro

photo: wikipedia commons

CARACAS, 29 July - Incumbent Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has won the presidential election and has been re-elected for a third six-year term, said the president of Venezuela's National Electoral Council, Elvis Amoroso.

According to the council's first statement, after 80 % ballots were counted, 5,150,092 voters supported Maduro, i.e. 51.2 %. His main opponent, Edmundo González, representing the far-right, received 4 445 978 votes, or 44.2 %, and eight other candidates received a total of 4.6 %.

Amoroso explained that the delay in publishing the results of Sunday's elections was due to an attack on the electoral authority's data publication system.

María Corina Machado, the leader of Venezuela's opposition, said that presidential candidate Edmundo González's electoral team would not accept his defeat in the polls. Throughout the day of voting, Spanish news channel CNN broadcast statements from González supporters claiming he was leading over Maduro.

TASS/gnews.cz-jav

https://tass.com/world/1822509