The results of an election that could end one-party rule are eagerly awaited by Venezuelans.

Venezuela elections 2024

The results of Sunday’s presidential election, which might end 25 years of one-party rule, were eagerly awaited by Venezuelans, even though some polling stayed open for more than three hours past the deadline.

In his quest for a third term, President Nicolás Maduro faced his most formidable challenge to date from the most unlikely of opponents: retired diplomat Edmundo González, who was unknown to voters until being chosen in April as a last-minute replacement for opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.

Leaders of the opposition were jubilant, both virtually and physically, outside several polling places, predicting a resounding win for González. Their optimism was bolstered by alleged exit polls that indicated González had a sizable lead. By legislation, exit polls are prohibited in Venezuela.

Merling Fernández, a 31-year-old bank worker, exclaimed, “I’m so happy,” as an opposition campaign representative left a voting location in a working-class area of Caracas with figures that showed González had more than quadrupled Maduro’s vote total. Numerous people in the vicinity spontaneously began to sing the national song.

“This is the way we’re going to create a new Venezuela,” Fernández continued, fighting back tears.

But there were no indications that Maduro’s backers were giving up.

Jorge Rodriguez, Maduro’s campaign coordinator, grinned and stated, “We can’t give results, but we can show face,” during a press conference.

Polls were scheduled to close at 6 p.m., but some Caracas voting locations stayed open for over three hours after the deadline, and officials said nothing. The National Electoral Council was called upon by the opposition to start tallying votes.

At their campaign headquarters, Machado and González told reporters, “This is the decisive moment.”

Machado was cautious not to declare victory before the results were officially announced, but she claimed to have copies of the official voting counts, which showed a record turnout, which was just what the opposition required to defeat Maduro’s well-oiled election apparatus.

After casting their ballots on Sunday, Venezuelans are eagerly anticipating the outcome of a highly significant presidential election, in which longstanding strongman Nicolas Maduro is up against one of his toughest political opponents to date, according to pundits.

Before polling places in the nation’s capital, Caracas, were scheduled to open at six a.m. ET, long queues started to gather outside and lasted the entire day. The polls will remain open for individuals who wish to cast their ballots after they officially closed at 6 p.m. It is unknown when the election officials will make their announcement regarding the results.

In Caracas, some voters were hopeful about change. observed that many individuals were congregating to cast their ballots.

Others mentioned wanting to support their nation, where a large number of Venezuelans had left due to the country’s economic disaster. Voter Amelia Perez told CNN, “I’m doing this for my children and my grandchildren.” One of her three boys resides in Washington, D.C. “I want my kids to stay here and I want him to return. My entire family has already departed.

After his predecessor Hugo Chavez passed away in 2013, Maduro assumed leadership of the ruling Chavismo organization. He is running for a third consecutive six-year term in government. His main rival among the nine other contenders for the presidency is a cohesive opposition movement that transcended divisions to establish the Democratic Unitary Platform coalition.

Despite persistent government repression, which resulted in the disqualification of their preferred candidate, María Corina Machado, the opposition movement has persevered. A self-confessed capitalist, Machado has pledged to privatize a number of state-owned businesses. Since then, she has mobilized support for her successor, the placid former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia.

The vote has occurred at a critical juncture for Venezuela, a nation that has just seen the worst economic collapse of a peacetime nation and violent repression under Maduro’s leadership. The oil-rich country’s economy, which was once the fifth-largest in Latin America, has shrunk to the size of a medium-sized city over the past ten years, according to IMF data.

The European Union and the United States have imposed punitive sanctions on the regime, but they have not succeeded in toppling the incumbent demagogue, who claims that Venezuela is a victim of a “economic war.”

Due to severe shortages of necessities and skyrocketing prices, almost eight million Venezuelans have left the nation; if Maduro wins, more will likely feel forced to do the same, according to the opposition alliance that has vowed to bring democracy back to Venezuela.

People escaping Venezuela “would create destabilization and enormous pressure in the region.” Naturally, in the nation as a whole as well as on the US south border,” opposition leader Machado stated on Sunday.