Caracas, June 30 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Ahead of national legislative elections that will be held December 6th, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) held its primary election on Sunday, with over 3.1 million casting their vote to select the party’s candidates.

The president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, reported the turnout, with other officials and socialist supporters going to social media to post pictures of the long queues at polling stations.

The right-wing opposition coalition, known as MUD, also held its primaries in May, but registered a lower turnout with 543,000 voters. From the 1,162 candidates registered for these primary elections, 98 were chosen to run as candidates on behalf of the PSUV, the largest political party in Latin America with over 7 million members.

The primaries were staged in 87 districts across the country with gender and age quotas to facilitate female and younger candidates.

During his speech on Sunday, Cabello added that around 30 percent of the elected PSUV candidates were women. The PSUV has gone to great lengths to promote inclusiveness in these primary elections, especially among women and youth, with only 15 percent of candidates above the age of 50 and more than half being women.

In contrast, more than 80 percent of the candidates for the right-wing MUD were above the age of 50. The PSUV must win at least two thirds of the National Assembly — some 111 seats — to maintain the absolute majority required to approve laws, among other legal instruments.