Venezuelans vote for lawmakers and Governors as Opposition calls for election boycott

Venezuelan election marked by low turnout, government repression, and opposition boycotts amid claims of voter manipulation.

Voters in Venezuela are choosing lawmakers, governors and other officials Sunday in polling being held against a backdrop of heightened government repression and opposition calls to boycott the election.

The election is the first to allow broad voter participation since last year’s presidential contest, which President Nicolás Maduro claimed to have won despite credible evidence to the contrary. It is taking place two days after the government detained dozens of people, including a prominent opposition leader, and linked them to an alleged plot to hinder the vote.

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In the first hours after polls opened, members of the military outnumbered voters in some voting centers in the capital, Caracas. No lines formed outside the centers, including the country’s largest — a stark contrast with the hundreds of people gathered around the same time for the July 28 presidential election.

“I’m not going to vote," said truck driver Carlos León, 41, standing near a desolate polling station in Caracas. "I don’t believe in the (electoral authority). I don’t think they’ll respect the vote. Nobody forgets what happened in the presidential elections. It’s sad, but it’s true.”

Voter participation, in the eyes of the opposition, legitimises Maduro’s claim to power and his government’s repressive apparatus, which after the July presidential election, detained more than 2,000 people, including protesters, poll workers, political activists and minors, to quash dissent. Meanwhile, the ruling party is already touting an overwhelming victory across the country, just as it has done in previous regional elections regardless of Opposition participation.

A nationwide poll conducted between April 29 and May 4 by the Venezuela-based research firm Delphos showed that only 15.9% of voters expressed a high probability of voting on Sunday. Of those, 74.2% said they would vote for the candidates of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela and its allies, while 13.8% said they would vote for contenders associated with two opposition leaders who are not boycotting the elections.