The Venezuelan Electoral Commission confirmed that President Nicolás Maduro, 61, secured a third consecutive six-year term on Monday.

Maduro won with 51.20 percent of the vote in the presidential election.

Elvis Amoroso, the head of the National Electoral Council (CNE), reported that opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia received 44.2 percent of the vote.

González Urrutia, a former diplomat aged 74, was initially leading in opinion polls but faced a significant challenge from Maduro.

He had unexpectedly replaced María Corina Machado, a popular opposition figure, after Venezuelan authorities deemed her ineligible to run.

The election saw 10 candidates vying for the presidency, but the primary competition was between Maduro and González Oropeza.

In the lead-up to the results announcement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for a "fair and transparent" vote count.

"Now that voting has ended, it is important that every vote be counted fairly and transparently," Blinken stated. "We urge the electoral authorities to release a detailed vote count to ensure transparency and accountability."