Venezuela: Socialists Win Bolivar to Take 18 of 23 States

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's United Socialist Party of Venezuela, PSUV, has won the pending 23rd governorship to claim a massive 18 in total.

The Bolivar state governorship was won by PSUV candidate Justo Noguera Pietri. The leftist party overwhelmingly outperformed the opposition's Democratic Unity Roundtable, or MUD, by 18-5 in a conflict-free process.

The final tally is visually reflected in the chart below.

The voter turnout was 61.14 percent in Sunday's polls. Maduro said it was the highest turnout in 15 years - more than 10 million people voted. The president also said the Psuv won 54 percent of the total vote.

This is the second election this year in the South American country — the first was held on July 30 to elect members of the National Constituent Assembly, ANC.

Ballots were cast at 13,559 polling stations nationwide.

International observers lauded the transparency of the electoral process. Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Honduras sent congratulations to the government.

Prior to the announcement of the Bolivar state result was as follows: