Maduro wins third term, electoral authority says, contradicting exit polls

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has won a third term with 51% of the vote, the country's electoral authority said just after midnight on Monday, despite many exit polls which pointed to an opposition win.

The authority said opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez won 44% of the vote, though the opposition had earlier said it had "reasons to celebrate" and asked supporters to continue monitoring vote counts.

Maduro, appearing at the presidential palace before cheering supporters, said his reelection is a triumph of peace and stability and reiterated his campaign trail assertion that Venezuela's electoral system is transparent.

A poll from Edison Research, known for its polling of US elections, had predicted in an exit poll that Gonzalez would win 65% of the vote and Maduro would win 31%.

Local firm Meganalisis predicted a 65% vote for Gonzalez and just under 14% for Maduro.

About 80% of ballot boxes have been counted, national electoral council (CNE) president Elvis Amoroso said in a televised statement, adding results had been delayed because of an "aggression" against the electoral data transmission system.

Amoroso said the CNE has asked the attorney general to investigate the "terrorist actions", adding participation was 59%.

The opposition had earlier said voters had chosen a change after 25 years of socialist party rule.

"The results cannot be hidden. The country has peacefully chosen a change," Gonzalez said in a post on X, before the results were announced.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado reiterated a call for the country's military to uphold the results of the vote.

"A message for the military. The people of Venezuela have spoken: they don't want Maduro," she said earlier on X.

"It is time to put yourselves on the right side of history. You have a chance and it's now."

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.

Reuters