Nearly 7.2 million Venezuelans voted in a symbolic election organized by the opposition against President Nicolas Maduro and his plan to rewrite the constitution, university guarantors said with 95 percent of ballots counted.

Venezuela "sent a clear message to the national executive and the world," announced the president of the Central University of Venezuela, Cecilia Garcia Arocha, noting that 6,492,381 voted in the country and 693,789 abroad.