Venezuelan president rejects opposition election fraud claim

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is rejecting opposition claims that regional elections for governors were shrouded in fraud.

In a three-hour news conference Tuesday, Maduro defended Venezuela’s voting system as one of the most secure in the world.

He provided an on-site demonstration of how the nation’s voting machines work and remarked that they are the same ones used in Chicago. Then he added: “Obama votes with this same machine.”

He extended his offer to dialogue with the opposition while also calling one of the five winning opposition candidates a “fascist” and poking fun at the name and looks of another who lost.

Opposition leaders are disputing an official vote count that says the ruling socialist party won most of the 23 governorships elected Sunday.