CARACAS, Venezuela, May 26, (AP): Venezuelans still reeling from the outcome of last year’s presidential election did not respond Sunday to government calls to get out and vote for lawmakers, governors and other officials. That left voting centers practically empty at times and put officials on the defensive. The election, which the political opposition urged people to boycott, was the first to allow broad voter participation since the presidential contest that President Nicolás Maduro claimed to have won last year despite credible evidence to the contrary.

It took place two days after the government detained dozens of people, including a prominent opposition leader, and linked them to an alleged plot to hinder the vote. Members of the military throughout the day outnumbered voters at many polling centers in the capital, Caracas, where no lines formed outside in stark contrast with the enthusiasm of the July presidential election, when some people lined up for hours.

But senior government officials insisted polling centers saw such overwhelming participation on Sunday that they had to remain open past the scheduled 12 hours of operation. Electoral authorities said 42.66% of registered voters cast ballots across the country. Some 21.4 million people were registered, meaning the National Electoral Council claimed that about 9.12 million voters participated.

Voter participation, in the eyes of the opposition, legitimizes Maduro’s claim to power and his government’s repressive apparatus, which after the July presidential election detained more than 2,000 people including protesters, poll workers, political activists and minors, to quash dissent. "I’m not going to vote,” truck driver Carlos León, 41, said standing near a desolate polling station in downtown Caracas. "I don’t believe in the (electoral authority). I don’t think they’ll respect the vote.

Nobody forgets what happened in the presidential elections. It’s sad, but it’s true.” A nationwide poll conducted between April 29 and May 4 by the Venezuela-based research firm Delphos showed that only 15.9% of voters expressed a high probability of voting Sunday. Of those, 74.2% said they would vote for the candidates of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela and its allies, while 13.8% said they would vote for contenders associated with two opposition leaders who are not boycotting the elections.

"Today, we witnessed an event that attempted to disguise itself as an election, but failed to deceive the country or the world,” Edmundo González, who is recognized by the United States and several other countries as the winner of the July presidential election, posted on X. "What the world saw today was an act of civic courage. A silent but powerful declaration that the desire for change, dignity, and a future remains intact,” he added.