Venezuelan President Maduro seeks 3rd term as nation awaits historic poll results

The election process was marred by significant irregularities, with many voters protesting at polling centres as the results were announced.

Venezuela operates with two vote counts: A digital tally managed by the National Electoral Council, led by a Maduro ally, and a paper count printed by each voting machine at polling places.

The paper counts are crucial for citizens to verify the digital results. However, this year, officials at several key stations, including the Rafael Napoleon Baute school in Caracas, refused to hand over the paper tallies to election monitors. Similar issues were reported in Maracaibo, where local leaders struggled to obtain paper counts from all voting centres.