Voters in Venezuela are going to the polls to elect a constituent assembly that President Nicolas Maduro wants to rewrite the country's constitution in order to concentrate power in his hands.

It has not been very peaceful. Protests have erupted across the country as the opposition decries the contest as a "power grab" by Maduro.

A leading opposition candidate for assembly was shot dead in his home and a prominent youth activist along with two other protesters were shot dead in the street.

Daily Mail:

Lawyer Jose Felix Pineda, 39, was killed from multiple shots fired by assailants who broke into his home overnight, prosecutors said. Ricardo Campos, who worked as a youth secretary with the opposition Accion Democratica party, was also killed during protests today. Pineda was the second candidate to be murdered after the July 10 death of another, Jose Luis Rivas, as he was campaigning in the northern city of Maracay. In the west of Caracas, national guard troops fanning out to put down any disruption to the election used armoured vehicles and fired shots to disperse protesters blocking roads. Video posted on Twitter showed troops smashing down a metal gate and entering to the sounds of gunfire, and what appeared to be an armored vehicle on fire. The opposition has called for a boycott and mass demonstrations against the election, which it calls a bid by Maduro to install a dictatorship with the backing of the military. Maduro kicked off voting by casting his ballot in a west Caracas polling station. "I'm the first voter in the country. I ask God for his blessings so the people can freely exercise their democratic right to vote," the president said. He was accompanied by his wife, Cilia Flores, who is a candidate to sit on the new assembly. Turnout will be key to determining the legitimacy of the election. But that will be difficult to ascertain as most voters will be able to vote twice, as candidates are drawn from social and industry sectors as well as geographically. Surveys by Datanalisis, a pro-opposition polling firm, show more than 70 percent of Venezuelans opposed the idea of the new assembly - and 80 percent reject Maduro's leadership.

Most of the Organization of American States has condemned the vote, with several countries saying they wouldn't recognize the results. So why is Maduro risking civil war?

The political opposition is currently in control of the legislature. This has curtailed Maduro's ability to survive the economic and humanitarian crisis that threatens the Venezuelan people with mass starvation and economic ruin. Maduro needs the enhanced powers to cement his position and maintain control.

Maduro has the military behind him. He made sure of that by purging officers he couldn't count on completely. But how long will the senior officers support him if he orders them to shoot protesters down in the street?

That the vote will be in Maduro's favor is not in doubt. But the Venezuelan people have been aroused by this attempt to kill their democracy and no matter how big the margin of victory Maduro announces, the opposition will keep the pressure on.</s>“If these other countries don’t recognize Venezuela as a democracy, it will be hard for them to look like a legitimate power,” said David Smilde, an analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights advocacy group. Mr. Smilde mentioned a list of consequences that such isolation could entail, from access to bank loans to straining diplomatic ties with its largest neighbors.

One candidate for the constituent assembly, José Félix Pineda, a 39-year-old lawyer, was killed in his home the night before the vote. Prosecutors said an armed group had broken into Mr. Pineda’s home in Ciudad Bolívar on Saturday night and shot him dead there.

Hours later, a large explosion rocked a middle-class neighborhood in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, injuring at least seven police officers on patrol. Video circulating on social media showed the uniformed officers, all on motorcycles, riding into a fireball that had just erupted in front of them.

Nearby residents applauded as the security forces threw tear gas at them.

As the day wore on, government security forces used water cannons, rubber bullets and batons against protesters, just as they have for the last three months.</s>545: Strength of Constituent Assembly tasked with rewriting the constitution 364: Chosen by local constituency level 181: Chosen by members of seven social sectors 6,000: Number of candidates

At least nine people, including an election candidate, have been killed in the past 24 hours in Venezuela as the country voted for an all-powerful new legislative body tasked with reforming the country's constitution.

Country's opposition parties boycotted Sunday's polls, which they say is aimed at consolidating President Nicolas Maduro's power.

Counting of ballots across Venezuela began on Sunday night after the voting was extended by an hour. Preliminary results were expected before the end of the day.

Shootings at protests killed a 13-year-old and a 17-year-old in the western state of Tachira. A soldier was also shot dead there. The death toll also included a 30-year-old regional leader of a youth opposition party in the northeast town of Cumana and two protesters in the western state of Merida.

Anti-Maduro activists wearing hoods or masks erected barricades on roads and scuffles broke out with security forces who moved in quickly to disperse the demonstrators.

The president, elected in 2013, has faced months of protests for presiding over a debilitating economic crisis that has seen high inflation rate and shortages of food and other basic amenities.

He has pressed ahead with the vote to create the all-powerful constituent assembly or temporary parliament despite US sanctions and months of violence which has claimed the lives of around 120 people.

The US has condemned the violence, urging governments in "the region and around the world to take strong action to hold accountable those who undermine democracy, deny human rights".

READ MORE: All you need to know about today's vote in Venezuela

Al Jazeera's Lucia Newman, reporting from the capital Caracas, said that it was a "sad and bloody day in Venezuela". She said that half a dozen protesters with bullet wounds were rushed to neighbouring Colombia for treatment.

Maduro has accused right-wing governments of trying to sabotage "21st-century socialism" created by his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez. Several regional governments, including the United States, have voiced opposition to the controversial election.

The US envoy to the UN, Nikki Halley, on Sunday called the election a "sham" and "step toward dictatorship", adding that the US won't accept "illegitimate government".

"The 'emperor' Donald Trump wanted to halt the Venezuelan people's right to vote," said Maduro, as he voted at 6am in a low-income area of Caracas.

"A new era of combat will begin. We're going all out with this Constituent Assembly."

Supporters of "Chavismo," the movement founded by Chavez, said they wanted to halt the unrest.

"The [opposition] wants deaths and roadblocks and the government wants peace," said Olga Blanco, 50, voting for candidates to the assembly at a school in Caracas.

Maduro is gambling his four-year rule on the 545-member citizens' Constituent Assembly empowered to dissolve the opposition-controlled congress and change laws as it reforms the nation's constitution.

The voting started at 6am local time with almost 20 million Venezuelans registered to cast their ballots, according to Telesur, a pro-government pan-Latin American media network.

The opposition called for new protests on Monday and Wednesday against the inauguration of the powerful Constituent Assembly (CA).

"We do not recognise this fraudulent process," senior opposition leader Henrique Capriles said on Sunday at the close of the controversial election, which was marred by violence.

Capriles spoke of a "black day" and blamed what he termed President Maduro's "sick ambition".

To show the massive scale of public anger, the opposition earlier this month organised an unofficial referendum over Maduro's plan. More than seven million voters overwhelmingly rejected the constituent assembly and voted in favour of early elections.

The opposition's bid last year to hold a recall referendum against Maduro was rejected, regional elections have been postponed and the president has repeatedly ignored the opposition-controlled congress.

READ MORE: All you need to know about today's controversial vote

Turnout will be key to determining the legitimacy of the election. But that will be difficult to ascertain.

"I am at a polling station in Caracas and there is nobody here. There were a lot more people in the morning, but since then there've been just a few people dropping by," Al Jazeera's Newman said.

The Al Jazeera correspondent said that it was very difficult to get the exact figures on polling percentage. "The opposition claims only 15 percent went out to vote while the government is claiming it to be a major success," she said.

"President of the ruling Socialist party said it was historic and the biggest turnout ever, but the opposition members are not even showing at the polling centres."

Javier Farje, a Latin America political analyst, said that Maduro government is not going to rewrite the Constitution but they are going to "introduce nine reforms in the current constitution".

"I believe the only solution is to restart the dialogue that was suspended in December 2016 when the opposition abandoned the dialogue because they disagreed with the government," he told Al Jazeera.

"They have to go back to negotiating table. Constituent Assembly should not be seen as an obstacle for that. It is not going to replace the current National Assembly, let's make it clear. The National Assemby can still do its job."</s>CARACAS (Sputnik) — On Sunday, Venezuela is holding election of the members of the Constituent Assembly, a new legislative body with the power to amend the constitution. The last time a National Constituent Assembly was convened in 1999.

"In 1999, the first decrees and constitutional acts of the National Constituent Assembly were on regulating the functions of the Congress [Venezuelan bicameral parliament, reformed in 1999], because there were two collegiate bodies at the time, the Constituent Assembly and the Congress, as well as on reviewing the prosecution. It seems that this National Constituent Assembly will take the same path," Rodriguez said.

The country’s parliament is under control of the opposition, and the Office of the Prosecutor General disapproves of the government’s actions in the current crisis, as mass protests have been taking place in the country, and speaks against convening the Constituent Assembly.

On July 16, the country's opposition has held an unofficial referendum, in which 7.2 million people took part and almost 6.4 million of them voted against the Constituent Assembly. Venezuela's population is estimated at over 31 million people.</s>After months of protests, millions are called upon to choose representatives of an assembly to redraft the constitution.

After months of protests and clashes, with more than 100 people killed, Venezuelans are being called on to choose the members of a new National Constituent Assembly that will be tasked with drafting a new constitution.

In 1999, the then newly elected President Hugo Chavez and voters supported the initiative.

The difference now is that Sunday's election was ordered by decree, with no referendum indicating that a majority wants a change.

Venezuelans will answer one question: Who should represent you in the assembly?

Anticipating possible violence, the government has banned protests.

But the opposition has called people to the streets.

"Extend the barricades until tomorrow and everybody go to the streets on Sunday to demand the transformation of Venezuela," Freddy Guevara, an opposition congressman, said on Twitter. "This is a tough, conflictive time that we did not look for, but that will only hasten the fall of this government."

So what does this process entail? Below, we answer key questions:

An elected temporary parliament that has the mandate to draft or reform the Constitution.

On July 30, Venezuelans will choose the members of this parliament.

President Maduro invoked article 347 of the Venezuelan Constitution, which reads as follows:

"The Venezuelan people are the depositary of the original constituent power. In the exercise of that power, it can convene a National Constituent Assembly with the purpose of transforming the state, creating a new legal system and drafting a new Constitution."

The president has the power to do so, although he will not be able to object to the constitution that results from it.

In terms of changes, it is not clear yet what is coming.

Maduro has talked about the Constituent Assembly as an initiative that will resolve political and economic challenges, but it is unclear what the reforms will be.

Critics fear that the Constituent Assembly will try to override the National Assembly, the only government sector not controlled by Maduro's party.

2. Why did Maduro call this vote?

President Maduro called for the Assembly on May 1 amid a political crisis marked by a month of almost daily demonstrations.

At an open air rally before thousands of supporters, Maduro signed a document formally establishing the terms for electing members of the constituent assembly.

The president announced his decision saying it was the "only road to restore peace".

In a speech, he said that he aimed to "let the sovereign people impose peace, harmony and true national dialogue".

Maduro assured that the new constitution will be an "improvement" of the revolutionary plan of Chavez.

3. Who can elect and be elected?

There will be 545 elected delegates to the assembly, from more than 6,000 candidates.

From those, 364 will be chosen by local polls. The other 181 members will be elected by members of seven social sectors, including indigenous groups, poor farmers, students, and pensioners.

Those sectors have always shown strong support to Chavez and Maduro.

The opposition is boycotting the election, so from the 6,000 people that are running for seats, they do not have any representation.

Critics say the process has been distorted, because the president chose who could be listed in the constituent. That decision was not open to the public.

4. What do supporters say?

This has not been an imposed process. I support it. It is an instrument of the state, something imposed is not submitted to a vote

They say they are willing to participate and hope the vote brings stability.

"We will participate in a process that the majority, accept, receive and are willing to participate in. On July 30, we will see the true support to the Bolivarian Revolution, and President Nicolas Maduro," General Gabriel Oviedo, a candidate to the Constituent, said.

"The Constituent will continue, and with it the mechanisms will come so that each one responds to its illegal acts, it's time to have justice, and to defend the motherland," he added.

Cilia Flores, Maduro's wife and a candidate for the assembly, believes the move will bring peace and stability. "The National Assembly went crazy, and they thought they could overthrow President Maduro ... the people want peace, and this stability will be given to us by the Constituent," she told local media.

"This has not been an imposed process. I support it. It is an instrument of the state, something imposed is not submitted to a vote," Rossana Melendez, an environmental manager, said.

5. What does the opposition say?

What happens if this Constituent Assembly is imposed, without having consulted the people, is that it [risks dismantling] the state that we have, the constitutional base that we have

The opposition rejected the move from the start.

A Supreme Tribunal magistrate, Luisa Ortega Diaz, said the assembly was "not the solution to the crisis" and called on Maduro to "think carefully" to avoid more bloodshed.

Jose Haro, a constitutional lawyer, said: "What happens if this Constituent Assembly is imposed, without having consulted the people, is that it [risks dismantling] the state that we have, the constitutional base that we have.

"It gives way to a situation of high voltage political conflict, which can lead to even greater confrontation. The day that Maduro summoned the Constituent Assembly, the number of killed in demonstrations was no more than 29. After he made the announcement, the number has tripled ... If this goes ahead, Venezuela will enter a dark period."

The opposition is demanding elections to remove Maduro from power. They blame him for an economic crisis that has caused shortages of food, medicine and basic supplies.

6. How long could the process take?

Last time this happened, the process began on February 2, 1999, and finished with the publication of the Constitution in March 2000.

The Constituent Assembly could last more than a year because referendums and elections must be convened to determine the constituents, who are likely to discuss for months the issues concerning the new constitution.

This would allow the president to stay in power during the process, and could lead to a delay of the 2018 presidential election.

7. What was achieved the first time this was done?

The Constituent Assembly of 1999 made significant changes, including increasing the presidential term from five to six years; unifying the two chambers of the National Congress into a National Assembly, and changing the name of the country to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

8. What happens next?

Pressure from the opposition is expected to grow. Maduro has warned that his government is "ready for any scenario".

According to its decree, the National Constituent Assembly will be installed within 72 hours after the proclamation of the constituents.

President Maduro promised that before the new constitution is implemented, it would also be the subject of a referendum.

During the 1999 Constituent Assembly, Congress was shut down. This time, the Congress has said it will not cooperate.
A least nine people have been killed in the last 24 hours, including Constituent Assembly candidate Jose Felix Pineda, and Accion Democratica Party youth secretary Ricardo Campos.