Venezuela’s National Electoral Council Extends Voting Process for Another Hour
People wait in a polling center to elect the governor of the new state Guayana Esequiba and its authorities this Sunday, at the Rosa Word socialist mission base, in Dalla Costa, Sifontes. Photo: EFE/ Rayner Peña R
May 25, 2025 Hour: 7:06 pm
The president of Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE), Elvis Amoroso, announced that the voting process for this Sunday’s regional and legislative elections will be extended by an additional hour due to the high voter turnout in the country’s polling stations.
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We want to inform the country and our people that, given that there are still many participants, many voters in the polling centers, the rectors have decided to extend [the voting] for one more hour or until the line ends at different polling centers, Amoroso said in a transmission on the state channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).
“Once the hour is over, if there are still voters or people who want to cast their vote, they will have the opportunity,” he added, and stated that the institution he directs feels “proud” of the “active participation of the brave people of Venezuela.”
Some 21.4 million Venezuelans were called to the polls to elect 569 positions, including 285 deputies to the National Assembly (AN, Parliament), 24 governors, including that of the Guayana Esequiba state, and 260 regional legislators.
Earlier, the electoral body indicated, via Telegram, that by 2:00 p.m. local time (6:00 p.m. GMT), 100% of the polling stations throughout the country were operating and that the “technological infrastructure is fully functioning in service of the vote.”
It also reported a “minimum incidence” of 0.72%, without specifying what these failures were, while the country’s main political leaders emphasized participation during the day and assured that these elections will be the definitive seal for peacebuilding in Venezuela
The Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and First Combatant Cilia Flores voted in Caracas on an electoral day characterized as historic, in which millions of Venezuelans elected governors, deputies and members of legislative councils.
President Maduro highlighted that Venezuela has the freest and most sovereign elections in 100 years, praising the participation of indigenous communities and the inclusion of historically marginalized sectors in building a participatory democracy.