CARACAS: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s party on Sunday swept the board in parliamentary and regional elections that were largely boycotted by the opposition in protest over his disputed re-election last year.

This landslide win will keep the ruling party in control of the attorney general’s office and the top court, whose members are elected by lawmakers.

The United Socialist Party of Venezuela won 23 out of 24 state governor positions and scored 82.68 percent of the votes cast for lists of National Assembly members, the electoral council (CNE) said.

The constituency-level results of the parliamentary vote had yet to be tallied. The main opposition group, led by popular figurehead Maria Corina Machado, had urged voters to stay away to avoid legitimising what she described as a “farce” election.

AFP journalists who visited polling stations in several cities said turnout was much lower compared to the July 2024 presidential election.

The run-up to the vote was marked by mass arrests and a new crackdown on dissent. More than 70 people were arrested on suspicion of planning to “sabotage” the election.

Among those arrested was leading opposition member Juan Pablo Guanipa, held on charges of heading the “terrorist network” behind the alleged plot.

Venezuela’s authoritarian leftist government frequently alleges foreign-backed, opposition-led initiatives to topple Maduro, who took over on the death of his mentor, socialist firebrand Hugo Chavez in 2013.

Alleging an infiltration of foreign mercenaries, Venezuela closed its busy border with neighboring Colombia for the period of the election.