Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been re-elected with 5.1 million votes (51.2% of the total), stated the president of Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE), Elvis Amoroso. Far-right opposition candidate Edmundo González obtained 4.4 million votes (44.2%), and the other candidates obtained 462,704 votes (4.6%). Thus, President Maduro’s margin of victory was deemed irreversible at about seven percentage points.

The first bulletin with the results of the Venezuelan presidential elections were released close to midnight on Sunday, July 28. Results were expected to be released around 11 pm. Amoroso explained that the slight delay was the result of an attack against the electronic vote transmission infrastructure. Amoroso requested that the Public Ministry initiate an investigation on the matter, as well as on the attacks against electoral workers and authorities by far-right opposition groups during the electoral process.

The results were announced with 80% of the votes counted, with a turnout of 59%.

Historically, the CNE only announces the first results when statistical models show that the results are irreversible, and that was clearly stated by Elvis Amoroso.

Amoroso said that in the next few hours, the results of each polling station will be available on the CNE website. The results will be delivered to political organizations in accordance with electoral regulations and the law for electoral processes.

The electoral process in Venezuela was largely carried out in a peaceful environment. Throngs of voters inundated voting centers in the morning. The steady stream declined as the afternoon hours were reached. However, opposition supporters organized several isolated violent incidents which marred the otherwise harmonious process. These included violent assaults targeting opposition candidates such as Ramon Ceballos, rectors, and workers of the National Electoral Council during the morning. In the afternoon, supporters of the far right attempted to create a disturbance at a few voting centers, assaulting the premises and trying to force the stations to close before all votes had been cast. In Venezuelan elections, although voting ends at 6 p.m., all voters who are queued up are allowed to vote. As a result, voting centers regularly stay open past 6 p.m.

On this occasion, violent supporters of the far right assaulted voting centers and created disturbances at 6 p.m., demanding that the centers close promptly. Some of these videos circulated on social media networks with the false claim that these agitators were being denied the right to vote.

To date, far-right politician María Corina Machado, widely viewed as the “power behind the throne” of right-wing candidate Edmundo González, has not issued any statements about the results. However, just seconds before the CNE announcement, the top hierarchy of her campaign staff warned—on social media—Venezuelan authorities not to make the wrong decision. Analysts agreed that it was likely that they knew the results by this time.

Orinoco Tribune organized a YouTube livestream from 4 p.m. until midnight. During the livestream, Jesús Rodriguez Espinoza informed the audience that after the announcement there were no apparent major incidents in the area of Caracas where he lives. He also explained that despite the possibility that the far-right opposition would resort to violence, he was confident that Venezuelan authorities would be able to neutralize any attempts at destabilization, as the margin of victory of Maduro was greater that what many analysts were expecting.

Meanwhile, in the vicinity of Miraflores Palace in Caracas, the seat of the presidency, a massive demonstration of support for President Maduro was organized. Hundreds of thousands of Chavistas first celebrated the birthday of Comandante Hugo Chávez and then celebrated the victory of President Nicolás Maduro, whose next presidential term will extend until 2031. Hugo Chávez was born 70 years ago on July 28. President Maduro has continued the Bolivarian Revolution that Chávez launched with his electoral victory in 1998. President Maduro was expected to speak to his supporters again tonight.

Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff

OT/JRE/SL