Maduro and Opposition Both Claim Victory in Venezuela's Presidential Election

Electoral authorities claimed that Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s deeply unpopular president, had won a third term in Sunday’s election, sparking accusations that his authoritarian regime had committed massive fraud to steal victory from opposition candidate Edmundo González. 

After hours of delays and uncertainty, Elvis Amoroso, president of the National Electoral Council and a close Maduro ally, appeared before journalists shortly after midnight on Monday. He declared that Maduro had won with 51% compared to 44% for González, with 80% of the votes counted. 

However, opposition leader María Corina Machado insisted that González, a 74-year-old retired diplomat who took Machado’s place on the presidential ballot when the regime banned her from running, had won 70% of the vote compared to 30% for Maduro. [...]

The National Electoral Council waited for six hours after the polls closed to announce Maduro’s victory, indicating that his inner circle may have been debating how to handle the results. After his regime failed to derail the opposition campaign through dirty tricks and by banning Machado, many political analysts believed that Maduro would resort to stealing the election.  

“100% predictable,” Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas think tank, said of Maduro’s claim to victory.

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