Venezuela Elections 2017: Nicolas Maduro’s Party Wins 17 of 23 State Governorships amid Fraud Claims

According to Venezuela’s electoral authority, the governing Socialist Party has won 17 of 23 state governorships in a crushing victory.

Socialist President Nicolás Maduro hailed it as a victory for Chavismo, his party’s brand of socialism named after former president Hugo Chávez.

However, opposition leaders alleged fraud.

The Democratic Union Roundtable coalition has refused to recognize the result and demanded a complete audit, campaign director Gerardo Blyde said.

Gerardo Blyde said that “neither Venezuelans nor the world will swallow this fiction”.

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The results were announced by the president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Tibisay Lucena. The CNE is dominated by government loyalists and has been accused of pro-government bias by the opposition.

The council came under fire earlier this year when the company providing the voting systems for July’s elections for the constituent assembly said the turn-out figures for that poll had been manipulated.

The CNE dismissed those allegations and used a different company for October 15 vote.

President Nicolas Maduro praised the results as proof that Venezuela has “the best electoral system in the world” and opposition leaders have called for street protests to be held on October 16.