Polls begin to close in highly charged Venezuela election

Polls began to close on Sunday in Venezuela's most consequential election in a quarter-century of socialist party rule, with President Nicolas Maduro confident of victory even as the opposition has attracted impassioned support and warned of possible irregularities.    

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has been the star of the coalition campaign, despite a ban on her holding public office that forced her to pass the torch to candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, a 74-year-old ex-diplomat known for his calm demeanour.

Gonzalez has won backing even from some former supporters of the ruling party, but the opposition and observers raised questions ahead of the vote as to whether it would be fair, saying decisions by electoral authorities and the arrests of opposition staff were meant to create obstacles.

Maduro – whose 2018 reelection is considered fraudulent by the United States, among others - has said Venezuela has the world's most transparent electoral system and has warned of a "bloodbath" if he loses.

According to electoral law, polls close at 6pm local time, but remain open for those still waiting in line.

Attorney General Tarek Saab told Reuters ahead of a press statement that he did not anticipate any violence and that except for some isolated incidents voting had been peaceful.

He expected results on Sunday night, he added.

Less than a block from Saab's office in central Caracas, dozens of ruling party supporters arrived together on motorcycles outside Andres Bello secondary school, the country's largest voting centre, scuffling with opposition supporters gathered outside.

The crowd dispersed after about 20 minutes.

Earlier, Marlyn Hernandez, the head of voting at the school, told Reuters about 50% of the 11,493 people registered at that polling place had voted as of 5:20pm.

The figure was in line with estimates released by the opposition campaign that just under 55% of people had voted nationwide.

In evening remarks, Gonzalez and Machado repeated a call for opposition witnesses to remain at polling places for the vote count and not leave until they had their copy of the results.

A legal restriction bars publication of polling from a week before the election until official results are announced, although several purported exit polls began circulating on social media in the late afternoon.

Reuters journalists in seven locations around the country had reported morning lines outside polling stations, including some that opened late or where voting was moving slowly. Many voters had arrived before dawn.

"I work cleaning houses and my four grandchildren depend on me. I earn just $15 per week and that is enough to eat one day but not the next," said Luisa Gonzalez, 61, who voted in the state of Bolivar, traditionally a ruling party bastion.

"We have spent years looking for change. I was a Chavista, but people have changed," she said, using the term for ruling party supporters, a reference to the late President Hugo Chavez.

Maduro's government has presided over an economic collapse, the migration of about a third of the population, and a sharp deterioration in diplomatic relations, crowned by sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union and others which have crippled an already struggling oil industry.

Maduro said if returned to power he would guarantee peace and economic growth, making Venezuela less dependent on oil income.

The minimum wage is equivalent to $3.50 per month, while basic food for a family of five is estimated to cost about $500. Many people receive government food baskets or remittances from relatives abroad.

Dozens of voters cast ballots at the Venezuelan consulate in the Spanish island of Tenerife, with others gathered outside waving flags and cheering. Migrants around the world reported difficulties registering and only a small percentage of the large Venezuelan diaspora was expected to be able to vote.

THE CHAVEZ LEGACY

Maduro voted early in the morning in Caracas and said the result announced by the National Electoral Council would be recognized and defended by the armed forces and the police.

Maduro said he would decree a national dialogue on Monday, using a term that typically means conversations between the government and opposition, businesses, communities and others.

Many Maduro supporters speak enthusiastically of his mentor Chavez, and see Maduro, in power since Chavez's death in 2013, as a continuation of Chavez's legacy of helping the poor. 

Others told Reuters they saw Maduro's record as mixed but that they would back him.

"There are things that without doubt need to improve in our country, but this government has lived through sanctions and blockades like no other. That's why I back President Maduro and think he deserves another chance," said Jose Lopez, 57, as he waited to vote in central Valencia.

Gonzalez and Machado have promised major changes and said a fresh start may motivate migrants to return.

Gonzalez voted around noon in Caracas, while Machado voted in the mid-afternoon, emerging to a cheering crowd of supporters and a scrum of journalists. The opposition campaign posted videos of her greeting supporters and taking photos as she was transported on the back of a motorcycle earlier in the day.

The two opposition leaders have said they expect the military to uphold the results of the vote.

Venezuela's military has always supported Maduro, a 61-year-old former bus driver and foreign minister, and there have been no public signs that leaders of the armed forces are breaking from the government.

Thirty-seven people have been arbitrarily detained since Friday in connection with the elections, Gonzalo Himiob, the vice president of human rights organisation Foro Penal, said on X, and at least 20 remain detained.

Saab this week denied participating in political persecution.