Venezuelans anxiously await election results

Voting has begun in Venezuela’s presidential election, in which Nicolás Maduro of the ruling socialist PSUV party is seeking a third term.

Polling stations were scheduled to close at 18:00 local time (23:00 BST), but were expected to remain open if people were still queuing to vote.

Mr Maduro’s main challenger is Edmundo González, a former diplomat backed by a coalition of opposition parties.

Amid widespread fears that the PSUV would try to steal votes, the opposition called on supporters to be vigilant at polling stations to check the counting process at a “crucial time” after polling.

Polls suggest Mr Gonzalez has a wide lead over the incumbent.

This was reflected in the queues at a polling station in Petare, a poorer area of ​​Caracas, where many said they would vote for change.

Since he took over as president in 2013, Mr Maduro has presided over an economic collapse during which gross domestic product has shrunk by 70% and more than 7.7 million people have left the country in search of a better life.

“This government has had all the opportunities to make Venezuela a better country, but instead we have suffering,” voter Hector Emilio d’Avillia told the BBC.

Adriana Areza, a tearful woman, said she wanted “a decent salary for teachers and doctors, a better quality of life for the elderly and the young, a change for our country.”

With Mr Maduro’s 2018 re-election widely dismissed as not free and fair, there is concern that the outcome of this election may not go his way.

Opponents of the president have faced several hurdles ahead of the election, with their chosen candidate María Corina Machado barred from running for office.

Ms Machado, who has led the opposition campaign, reminded voters that the counting process must be legally public.

He called on “all Venezuelans to be at their polling stations… to be vigilant.”

Katiuska Camargo, a community leader, told the BBC that the Venezuelan people were determined that the government “leave power immediately”.

“There is outrage after outrage. Human rights abuses, extrajudicial executions, excessive immigration.”

The PSUV has been in power in Venezuela for the past 25 years – first under the late Hugo Chávez and then under his hand-picked successor, Mr Maduro.

Under their leadership, the PSUV has gained control of the executive and legislature, but also much of the judiciary.

The party has loyal supporters who say they have brought “results”.

Félix García said the Maduro government had offered “help to disabled people like me”.

Mr Maduro has said he wants to win the election “by hook or by crook” and warned of a “bloodbath” if he loses.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) – the body that organizes elections and announces the official result – is dominated by government loyalists.

Its leader, Elvis Amoroso, is a close personal ally of Mr Maduro.

Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, but its oil production has plummeted under President Maduro – the result of a lack of investment, mismanagement and oil embargoes.

The lifting of oil embargoes – imposed by the US to put pressure on Mr Maduro following the 2018 presidential election – could have consequences for oil prices globally.

Electronic voting in Venezuela. Voters punch a button on a voting machine assigned to their preferred candidate.

Electronic results are sent to CNE headquarters, but the voting machine prints a paper receipt, which is placed in a ballot box.

By law, parties are allowed to send witnesses to the number of these paper receipts conducted at each polling station.

It is these numbers that the opposition is monitoring to see if they are on par with the results announced by the CNE.