Venezuelans were scheduled to go to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president to complete the six-year term of late president Hugo Chavez, who died last month of cancer.

All Venezuelan citizens aged 18 and above are eligible to vote, and there are about 18.9 million registered voters out of a population of 28.8 million, according to the National Electoral Council.

Some 100,000 Venezuelans residing abroad will also be able to vote in their respective countries.

Some 39,322 ballot boxes have been deployed at around 13,810 polling stations across the country.

Venezuela has one of the world's best-developed electoral systems, according to independent observer agencies such as The Carter Center.

Xinhua

(China Daily 04/15/2013 page12)