• Venezuela’s presidential election was held peacefully Sunday.
• Maduro defended the electoral system by saying the system was “perfect” after he voted.
• Most of polls showed Maduro leads with a margin of 20 percentage points in race against Capriles.
CARACAS, April 14 (Xinhua) — Venezuela’s presidential election was held peacefully Sunday, with the final results expected to be released by the National Electoral Council (CNE) a few hours later.
Venezuelans called for a presidential election after the death of former president Hugo Chavez on March 5 and they will decide on the country’s political, economic and social future by choosing between the heir of Chavez, acting president Nicolas Maduro, and the opposition candidate Henrique Capriles for a six-year term.
The election proceeded with normality and peace, according to CNE reports and Plan Republica, the military operation deployed to guarantee security in the voting stations.
According to Venezuela’s General Attorney Luis Ortega Diaz, more than 2,000 officials of the public prosecutor’s offices were deployed in 13,810 electoral centers, which include 39,322 voting stations in the country and abroad.
The election was guarded by more than 125,000 police officers and 141,000 military elements.
Acting President Nicolas Maduro defended the country’s electoral system by saying that the system was “perfect” after he voted Sunday afternoon at Miguel Antonio Caro Bolivarian High School in western Caracas.
“You cannot attack a perfect electoral system to justify yourself. You have to have standings,” he accused the opposition candidate.
Maduro stressed that the electoral system has become the “most reliable, transparent and fast, internationally recognized” system in the whole world.
Maduro said in a statement “We are breaking records for participation with 11.5 million Venezuelans having already voted by 14:40 local time (1910 GMT),” and added the number is “fabulous. ” continued on next page