Venezuelans vote in regional, local elections

Caracas, Nov 22 (IANS) President of the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela, Pedro Calzadilla has announced that the country's regional and local elections began with "total normality."

A total of 21,159,846 voters are eligible to vote for candidates to fill 3,082 posts, including mayoralties, governorships, and municipal and legislative council seats, according to authorities.

More than 70,000 candidates from 87 political organisations are participating in these elections while about 300 international observers from 55 countries are monitoring the voting process, Xinhua news agency reported.

Calzadilla described these elections as "complex," especially due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and said that the CNE has installed biosafety measures at voting centres.

The CNE has set up 14,262 voting centres and 30,106 polling stations throughout the country, while a total of 356,586 members of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces have been deployed to secure the elections.