Both candidates claim victory in Venezuela presidential election

In a hotly contested and controversial presidential election in Venezuela on Sunday night, both the incumbent, Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro, and the opposition nominee, Democratic Unitary Platform candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia declared victory.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner on Sunday night, claiming he won more than 51% of the vote, according to multiple reports. However, numerous exit polls revealed that Urrutia should have won. The election received significant attention and scrutiny as the world’s leaders watched the South American nation’s election with great interest.

Previous communiques from the State Department labeled Maduro a corrupt dictator of an illegitimate regime in Venezuela. Many leaders expressed skepticism over Maduro’s victory, CNN reported, concerned that it was a rigged election and the latest attempt by Maduro to remain in power despite strong opposition to his administration. Moreover, the opposition party claimed that polls showed that Maduro should have lost the election and lost in considerable fashion.

María Corina Machado, a former presidential candidate disqualified for fifteen years in what many considered to be a corrupt act by Maduro’s regime, is the current de facto leader of Venezuela’s opposition party. In a news conference on Sunday, Machado claimed that their records revealed Maduro losing in a landslide, with 70% of the votes supposedly going to Urrutia and only 30% to Maduro. Recent polls before the election showed that Maduro was trailing by over 20% in the polls. 

“The entire international community knows what happened in Venezuela and how people voted for change,” Machado said after the election. 

Machado vowed the opposition would keep fighting and “defend the truth.”

Urrutia echoed Machado’s sentiments, claiming Maduro’s victory was fraudulent and that Maduro violated many rules. 

After declaring victory, Maduro appeared at Venezuela’s presidential palace to address supporters, Reuters reported. He denied any wrongdoing, said the country’s election process was honest and transparent, and deemed his victory “a triumph of peace and stability.”

Still, Machado and the opposition insisted they won and would persist in their efforts.

“Venezuela has a new president-elect and it is Edmundo Gonzalez [Urrutia],” Machado said. “We won, and the whole world knows it.”