The Latest: Venezuela voting draws to close, but polls with voters waiting remain open

By The Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Here's the latest on Sunday's important congressional elections in Venezuela (all times local):

6:10 p.m.

Voting is coming to an end but electoral authorities are ordering polls to remain open as long as voters remain in line waiting to cast ballots.

National Electoral Council Vice President Sandra Oblitas says there are reports of lines at several voting centers.

Venezuelan electoral law guarantees latecomers the right to vote as long they are in line at 6 p.m. when polls are supposed to close.

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6:00 p.m.

Electoral authorities are withdrawing former Bolivian President Jorge Quiroga's credentials as an electoral observer after controversial comments about voting hours.

Quiroga is one of six former presidents invited by Venezuela's opposition to monitor the vote. National Electoral Council President Tibisay Lucena said his credentials would be withdrawn after allegedly calling on authorities to make sure polls close at 6 p.m. as mandated by electoral law.

National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello went one step further and is calling for the expulsion of all six former leaders.

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4:50 p.m.

President Nicolas Maduro had repeatedly vowed in recent weeks to take to the streets if his party lost. Opposition leaders said that if their coalition didn't win it would be because the government cheated.

But the president changed his tone on Sunday.

He said: "In Venezuela, peace and democracy must reign. I've said we'll take the fight to the streets, but maybe I was wrong."

(Clarifies Maduro's comments and corrects that they were made Sunday.)

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4:40 p.m.

Past Venezuelan elections have been marred by complaints of armed gangs intimidating opposition voters.

There have been few reports of that type of harassment as voting in congressional elections draws to a close. But videos are circulating of high-profile socialist party politicians being booed and heckled as they went to cast their votes.

In the home state of the late president Hugo Chavez, his brother Gov. Adan Chavez drew jeers from a large crowd chanting: "out of here!"

At least four other governors and the pro-government mayor of Caracas also had to pass through gauntlets of angry opposition members to cast their ballots.

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3:25 p.m.

Venezuela's ambassador to the United Nations is criticizing what he says are efforts by the Obama administration and several American presidential candidates to discredit his country's election even before polling stations opened.

Rafael Ramirez was Venezuela's longtime oil czar and former foreign minister before he was named representative to the UN late last year.

He accompanied President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday as the leader cast his ballot at a school in a working class neighborhood.

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3 p.m.

President Nicolas Maduro has cast his vote in congressional elections after stepping out of a black SUV, surrounding by several dozen supporters.

Salsa musicians pounded large drums and shouted "como sea," a reference to Maduro's campaign pledge that the socialists would prevail "by any means."

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1:30 p.m.

A co-founder of the Black Lives Matter campaign is in Caracas for Election Day at the invitation of the socialist government.

Opal Tometi was swarmed by government critics on Twitter after posting about the relief she felt being "in a place where there is intelligent political discourse."

Some warned her that she was being used, while others drew derisive comparisons to other high-profile Americans who have supported the socialist administration, including Sean Penn and Oliver Stone.

Black Lives Matter grew out of the outrage that followed several high-profile police killings of African-Americans in the United States last year.

In a statement released by Venezuela's Washington-based public relations consultant, Tometi said that Venezuela appears to "have a truly thriving and rigorous democratic system."

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12:30 p.m.

Flights into Venezuela have been packed with expatriates returning home to vote.