The National Electoral Council (CNE) has announced the first results of the Venezuelan municipal elections held on December 8. Mayors and local councilors were elected for the country’s 335 municipalities, as well as the metropolitan mayor of Caracas.
CNE president Tibisay Lucena read out the results. Turnout was 58.92%, with 97% of votes counted so far.
The results for 77% of mayoralties were announced, with the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and its allies winning 196 so far, of the 257 mayoral position results that are so far irreversible.
The right-wing US-backed Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) has won 53 municipalities, while other parties have won eight.
The PSUV and allies won 49.24% (5,111,336) of the vote nationally, versus 42.72% (4,435,097) of the vote to the MUD .
The PSUV candidate Jorge Rodriguez was reelected as mayor of the central Libertador municipality of Caracas with 54.55% of the vote. The candidate for the MUD won the mayoralties in the cities of Maracaibo and Valencia, Venezuela’s second and third largest cities. So far the PSUV has won 12 state capitals, and the MUD eight.
The MUD candidate Antonio Ledezma also won the mayoralty of Metropolitan Caracas, on 50.81%.
[Reprinted from Venezuela Analysis. Visit www.venezuelanalysis.com for more updates and analysis on the elections.]