U.S. officials called for the immediate, full and transparent release of Venezuela’s election results Monday, one day after current President Nicolas Maduro claimed victory over opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez. V

enezuela's National Electoral Council officially declared Maduro the winner one day after polls closed, with 51% of the vote compared with Gonzalez who received 44%.

A senior administration official said the U.S. and other countries have serious concerns that democratic electoral norms were not followed.

“Our concern is that last night the National Electoral Council of Venezuela announced a result that does not track with data that we have received through quick count mechanisms and other sources which suggest the result that was announced may be at odds with how people voted,” a senior administration official said. “That’s why we’re asking the Venezuelan authorities to release the underlying data.”

The U.S. is calling for the Venezuelan government to release detailed, precinct-level polling results.

Maduro is in control of all branches of Venezuela’s government, including its army and the National Electoral Council in charge of counting Sunday’s votes. 

On Monday, a senior administration official said Maduro had agreed to the presence of international observers, civil society observers and the taking of exit polls “that gives us a tremendous amount of data about the will of Venezuelan voters.”

While much of that data will not be available until Tuesday, he said he expects it to reflect “a tremendous call for change that took place yesterday in Venezuela through the ballot box.”

The official declined to discuss possible consequences for the Maduro government if it does not release election tabulations but said the U.S. has a number of options and considerations it could bring to bear.

“If it is proven they committed fraud, that is not good for their longer-term objectives of normalizing Venezuela’s broader diplomatic and political relations in the region and frankly it’s not good for their own political position within Venezuela,” a senior administration official said.

As of mid-day Monday, the U.S. said it had seen statements of concern about the election results from the European Union, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, the United Kingdom and many other countries.

Following Maduro’s announced election results, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the international community is watching and will respond accordingly.

An authoritarian, Maduro was elected in 2013 following the death of President Hugo Chavez and was re-elected in 2018 in a race that many, including the United States, considered unfair and undemocratic.

In the lead up to Sunday's election, more than 100 opposition officials had been arrested in Venezuela since the beginning of the year, 30 of whom are still being held, according to the U.S.

On Monday, a senior administration official said the only reason Venezuela held an election and allowed an opposition candidate on the ballot was because of “calibrations” to its sanctions policy over the past year.

Throughout Maduro’s time in office, Venezuela has suffered from declining oil prices that have destabilized an economy that relies on oil exports as one quarter of its gross domestic product, as well as U.S. sanctions imposed in 2019.

On Sunday, the country of 28 million headed to the ballot box, many of them lining up in the wee hours before polls opened.

“Venezuelan voters showed up in historic numbers yesterday to express their will at the ballot box,” a senior administration official said. “We stand firmly with the Venezuelan people and support those seeking to restore democracy in Venezuela. We are very engaged using diplomacy and coordination with regional allies and partners to ensure that the wishes of the Venezuelan people are respected as those wishes have been expressed at the ballot box.”

In 2023, 262,633 Venezuelans crossed the U.S.-Mexico border into the U.S., fleeing economic and political turmoil. Since 2017, a quarter of the Venezuelan population has emigrated, making it the largest displacement crisis in the world, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.