Long lines of voters have been forming all over Venezuela since last night, waiting for the polls to open, where the name of the next president will be announced today. This is a crucial appointment for the future of the South American country, which will have to decide whether to continue with the “Chavismo” in power for 25 years, or to make a decisive change that will allow the opposition to rule.
The main contenders are outgoing President Nicolás Maduro — the charismatic heir to the military dictator Hugo Chávez, who was president from 1999 to 2013 — and former ambassador Edmundo González Urrutia, who is leading in independent polls and has the support of opposition party leader MarÃa Corina Machado, who was barred from running because she has been banned from holding public office for 15 years.
As specified by the National Electoral Council, the 15,767 polling stations will be open “continuously” until 6 p.m. (midnight in Italy) to accommodate more than 21 million registered voters. Meanwhile, abroad, 69,211 Venezuelans will also be able to vote, from a total of 104 diplomatic and consular representations of the Caribbean nation around the world.
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