By Xinhua
Caracas : Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) has delayed the initial results of Sunday’s national referendum on constitutional reforms.
It said the postponement is because voter turnout was so high that some stations remained open after closing time.
The referendum was scheduled to run from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. (1000 GMT to 2000 GMT) Sunday with the first results expected a few hours after voting closed.
While the CNE announced the closure of the referendum late in the day, its chief Tibisay Lucena told a press conference that only polling stations where voters were still standing in line would remain open. She declared that the day’s vote had taken place “happily and in peace”.
Over 16.1 million voters were registered to cast ballots on whether to change 69 provisions of the nation’s 350-article constitution, and whether to allow indefinite presidential re-election as proposed in the referendum.
Venezuela’s opposition accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of seeking power for life by putting the reforms to vote.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan Defense Minister Gustavo Rangel Briceno said that the army would back whatever the result of the vote, because it was approved by all the nation’s political forces.
The army deployed 110,000 troops to maintain order and security for the national referendum.