Venezuela's presidential election, in which President Hugo Chavez sought another six-year term, ended at 4:00 p.m. local time (2000 GMT) on Sunday.

About 16 million citizens were registered to vote in the more than 33,002 polling booths, installed in 11,118 polling stations across the country.

The first official result will be published at 7:00 p.m. local time (2300 GMT).

According to media reports, Chavez is considered a favorite by most pollsters. The only serious opposition candidate, Manuel Rosales, is governor of the western state of Zulia.

Source: Xinhua