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"(CNN) -- Less than six weeks after President Hugo Chavez's death, Venezuelans headed to the polls Sunday to pick a new leader.
It was the second time in just over six months that voters in the South American country cast ballots in a presidential election.
Chavez, who ruled Venezuela for 14 years, celebrated a triumphant re-election victory in October. After his death on March 5, authorities announced new elections to select his successor.
Nicolas Maduro, 50, is the United Socialist Party of Venezuela's candidate. Henrique Capriles Radonski, 40, represents a coalition of opposition parties.
Capriles is the former governor of Miranda state. He lost to Chavez in October's presidential vote, coming within 10 percentage points of the longtime leader. It was a significant gap, but the closest any opposition candidate ever came to defeating Chavez during his rule.
More than 18.9 million Venezuelans are registered to vote in the presidential election.
More than 68% of the country's registered voters had cast ballots by 3 p.m. Sunday, elections officials said.
Far beyond Venezuela's borders, voters lined up at diplomatic offices around the world.
Venezuela's National Electoral Council says that more than 100,000 Venezuelans are registered to vote abroad at diplomatic offices in 88 countries. There are more than 37,681 Venezuelans registered to vote in the United States, according to government figures.
By midafternoon, thousands had cast ballots in New Orleans. Many said they had traveled by car or bus for more than 12 hours to get there from Florida, since Venezuela shut down its consulate in Miami last year.
Beatriz Olavarria, who worked to mobilize voters, said it wasn't easy. While campaigning lasted for months before October's election, this time around the official campaign period was only a matter of days.
"It was much more difficult because the time has been short, and the budget has been low," she said Sunday, "but the excitement has been enormous."
In addition to representatives from national organizations serving as observers, Venezuela's National Electoral Council says 170 foreigners have been invited to witness the elections in Venezuela. The international group includes delegations from the Union of South American Nations and the Atlanta-based Carter Center.
Authorities said Sunday that they were investigating 18 people for alleged electoral crimes, state media reported.
But elections officials said Sunday evening that the day had proceeded smoothly without major incidents.
"It has developed with total normalcy, with total calmness," said Sandra Oblitas of the National Electoral Council."
http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/14/world/americas/venezuela-elections/?hpt=hp_t2
