Voter turnout increases in opposition primaries

When more than half of the election day has elapsed, there are still long lines at polling centers in Caracas and the rest of Venezuelan cities and towns.

Teresa Albanes, the president of the Unified Democratic Panel (MUD) Electoral Committee, said that the coordinators of the National Electoral Council (CNE) in the state of Portuguesa (mid-western Venezuela) arrived late to the polling stations. There were power outages in parts of the states of Nueva Esparta, Aragua, Carabobo, Miranda, Portuguesa, Carabobo and Falcón, which resulted in delays.

From the early hours of Sunday morning, voters arrived at polling stations throughout Venezuela. Albanes said that polling stations were set up without major problems.

In an unprecedented vote, Venezuelan dissenters are choosing their presidential candidate to October presidential vote. Five candidates seek to represent the Venezuelan opposition in national elections in October: Pablo Medina, Diego Arria, María Corina Machado, Henrique Capriles and Pablo Pérez. Additionally, Venezuelans are choosing their opposition candidates to governor's offices and mayoralties.