The parliamentary election of Venezuela went on smoothly on Sunday, with nearly 20 million Venezuelans voting for the parties they support at polling stations.
Voters queued early at polling stations, which opened at 06:00 across the country and would remain open for 12 hours.
In the election, the governing United Socialist Party (USP) will contend with the opposition and neutral parties for the 167 seats in the National Assembly.
The government dispatched more than 160,000 soldiers and armed police to maintain order at polling stations across the country.
As domestic economy was sluggish currently in Venezuela, many voters hoped the new National Assembly will bring some changes to the country.
“We are suffering a shortage of food now, and the inflation makes life worse with high unemployment rate. People are preparing to leave for other countries to make a living, and I hope there would be some changes in these aspects”, said voter Roseli.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro showed up at a polling station in the afternoon and delivered a speech there. He said he hoped the opposition party will respect the voting process, as well as the final result. And,he hoped the election will show the world a peaceful and democratic Venezuela.
“Today, our residents have convoyed a signal that Venezuela needs peace, democracy and independence, and we demand other countries not interfering in our internal affairs,” said Maduro.
According to the previous opinion polls, the support rate of the ruling party and opposition party was almost the same, so the election will become a very competitive one. The voting result is expected to be published in the early morning hours on Monday.
