By Ricardo Vaz on May 26, 2025 from Caracas
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro led a celebratory rally outside Miraflores Palace on Sunday night and hailed a “victory of peace and stability.”
Venezuela’s ruling United Socialist Party (PSUV) and political allies emerged as overwhelming victors in Sunday’s regional and parliamentary elections.
According to the country’s National Electoral Council (CNE), the Great Patriotic Pole received around 4.55 million votes, 82.7 percent of the total cast, in the election for the unicameral National Assembly. It was followed by the Democratic Alliance and UNT-Única, two opposition coalitions, with 6.25 and 5.18 percent, respectively.
Far-right opposition factions led by María Corina Machado urged a boycott of the legislative and regional elections. The US-backed groups maintain a claim of victory in the July 28, 2024, presidential elections that saw President Nicolás Maduro secure a third term in office.
The May 25 elections saw Venezuelan voters select a new 285-member National Assembly alongside 24 state governors and 260 regional legislators. A total of 54 political parties participated in the contests.
Venezuela’s electoral authority delivered the first bulletin on Sunday night with a reported 93 percent of polling stations tallied. The voting totals represent a turnout of just over 25 percent of the electoral roll. CNE President Elvis Amoroso said that 42.7 percent of “active voters” participated, though he did not define them.
The turnout figure is in line with the previous legislative elections in 2020 that were likewise the subject of a partial opposition boycott. Machado’s supporters focused on the turnout following the release of the results, alleging it was lower than official figures.
In his press conference, Amoroso praised the peaceful nature of the electoral process and congratulated the Venezuelan people for participating.
“Venezuela has once more given an example of peace and democracy to the whole world,” the official stated. “This was an extraordinary event in which the people expressed themselves.”
Amoroso went on to thank the Venezuelan armed forces for ensuring the safety of the voting process and the electoral officials who worked at polling stations. Sunday’s elections were held in nearly 16,000 polling stations countrywide.
Socialist Party leader and campaign chief Jorge Rodríguez reported that the vote was carried out without a single incidence of violence. However, three security officials lost their lives in an accident while transporting voting materials in Apure state.
CNE Vice President Carlos Quintero reported the National Assembly seats adjudicated from national lists, with the PSUV-led coalition awarded 34 of 40 posts already assigned. Rodríguez led the pro-government list and is expected to remain at the head of the legislative body.
The two most voted opposition coalitions reportedly elected three deputies each, with former two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles entering the National Assembly, marking his return to an elected post after having been previously barred from holding office. The remaining parliament members, coming from regional lists and 133 first-past-the-post circuits, have yet to be officially announced.
The Great Patriotic Pole currently holds more than 90 percent of the outgoing National Assembly following its 2020 victory. The new legislature is set to begin its five-year term on January 5, 2026.
At the time of writing, the CNE has not published results broken down by voting center.
Socialist Party completes regional near-sweep
Chavista candidates won in 23 of the 24 governor seats.
Sunday’s elections also represented a massive success for the pro-government alliance on a regional level, obtaining 23 of the 24 governor seats. According to the CNE, PSUV candidates triumphed with overwhelming numbers, with ten of them surpassing 90 percent of the vote.
Incumbents such as Elio Serrano (Miranda), Rafael Lacava (Carabobo) and Luis Marcano (Anzoátegui) comfortably secured new terms. The ruling coalition likewise emerged with significant majorities in regional legislative councils. Regional officials serve four-year mandates.
Cojedes state was the only governorship retained by anti-government forces, which failed to hold the Barinas, Nueva Esparta and Zulia states they had won in 2021. Barinas, with its symbolic importance as the birthplace of Hugo Chávez, was won by the former president’s brother Adán Chávez.
The May 25 contest also saw voters choose representatives for a would-be Guayana Esequiba state, with Admiral Neil Villamizar taking the governor post. Some 21 thousand Venezuelans registered as Essequibo Strip residents were eligible to vote in 12 polling stations set up in Bolívar state. However, the impact is largely symbolic as Guyana wields control of the disputed territory.
Source: Venezuela Analysis