There is good news in that Venezuela’s ruling socialist regime has lost its majority in the country’s National Assembly for the first time since the late Hugo Chavez came to power in 1999. But the socialists are desperately trying to keep the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable from gaining a two-thirds majority. Some 22 of the 167 seats have yet to be decided. The opposition under the current count has 99 out of the 111 seats needed for a two-thirds majority. They need half of the outstanding seats to win a two-thirds majority.

See this AP summary of just one of the government’s blatantly fraudulent moves in Sunday’s election:

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 National Electoral Council President Tibisay Lucena said his credentials would be withdrawn after allegedly calling on authorities to make sure polls close at 6 p.m. as mandated by electoral law.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. Nineteen regular and three Indigenous seats are yet to be announced.

The size of the opposition victory in Venezuela is critical. If it ends up winning a simple majority, its power will be constrained by President Nicholas Maduro and the Chavista Supreme Court. Among its few powers will be the ability to pass an amnesty law that could release Leopoldo Lopez, the leading opposition chief, who was imprisoned last year for 14 years on trumped-up charges of inciting violence

If the opposition coalition wins a three-fifths majority they will be able to pass votes of no confidence against Maduro’s ministers.

Regardless of the final outcome, much of the remaining legitimacy of the Chavista government has been taken away by this election. No one can say the people weren’t calling for a change. Voter turnout was a high 74 percent, up a full eight points from the last parliamentary elections in 2010.