Deadly violence as opposition boycotts Venezuelan election

Venezuela's controversial vote for an all-powerful constituent assembly has been slammed by the US following widespread violence on election day.

Some 15 people were said to have been killed, including an election candidate, during Sunday's vote - widely seen as a ruse to grant socialist president Nicolas Maduro authoritarian powers.

Venezuela's electoral council said more than eight million people voted - a turnout of 41.5% - but this figure was disputed by opposition leaders who claimed boycotts had led to a turnout as low as two million.

The new constituent assembly will have powers to rewrite Venezuela's constitution and override the opposition-controlled congress.

Opponents to Mr Maduro fear the vote would trigger the end of democracy, while the US and Britain have also been critical.

Nikki Haley, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, described the vote as a "sham election" which took the South American country "another step toward dictatorship".

Since the vote, Venezuelan opposition leaders have urged people to continue protesting against the government.

The opposition boycotted Sunday's vote, with all 5,500 candidates for the 545 seats in the constituent assembly supporters Mr Maduro.

They claimed that 15 people were killed in violence on voting day, seven of which were confirmed by Venezuela's chief prosecutor.

At least 120 people have lost their lives during four months of political upheaval.

One of those killed hours before voting began was an election candidate in Venezuela's southeastern town of Ciudad Bolivar, shot dead by assailants who broke into his home overnight.

In violence elsewhere, at least four police officers were injured when a convoy was hit by an explosion in the country's capital Caracas.

The run-up to the vote was marked by months of clashes between protesters and the government, including the fatal shooting of a 61-year-old nurse by men accused of being pro-government paramilitaries during a protest at a church.

However, Mr Maduro asked for global acceptance as he cast his vote for an all-powerful constitutional assembly.

The president, widely disliked for overseeing an economic collapse during his four years in office, has promised the assembly will restore peace following months of unrest.

Critics say the new assembly will allow Mr Maduro to dissolve the opposition-run congress, delay future elections and rewrite electoral rules to prevent the socialists from being voted out.

The special assembly being selected will have powers to rewrite the country's 1999 constitution but will also have powers above and beyond other state institutions, including the opposition-controlled congress.

While opinion polls say a vast majority oppose him, Mr Maduro made clear in a televised address Saturday evening that he intended to use the assembly to govern without limitation, describing the vote as "the election of a power that's above and beyond every other. It's the super power!"