PRESIDENT Nicolas Maduro’s party swept the board in Venezuela’s parliamentary and regional elections on Sunday.

The victory came as opposition parties called for a boycott of the poll as they continue to protest against President Maduro’s re-election last year. The poll was boycotted both by right-wing opposition and the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV), which has adopted an anti-Maduro stance in recent years.

Venezuela’s electoral council (CNE) announced late on Sunday that the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) won 23 out of 24 state governor positions and gained 82.68 per cent of the votes cast for National Assembly members.

The president of the CNE, Elvis Amoroso, told a press conference that the socialists had won 4,553,484 of a total of 5,507,324 votes cast and won 40 of the assembly’s 50 seats.

Voter turnout was 42.63 per cent of the active electoral roll.

President Maduro hailed the election results as a “victory of peace and stability” and said that it “proved the power of Chavismo,” the left-wing movement founded by his predecessor Hugo Chavez.

On Sunday before the results were announced, President Maduro slammed the opposition boycott.

“When the opponent withdraws from the field, we advance and occupy the terrain,” he said.

Samadhi Romero, a university student, defended the election as an “important process of civic participation.”

She voted for Mr Maduro’s son, MP Nicolas Maduro Guerra, who was seeking re-election in Caracas.