CARACAS, Venezuela >> Voters in Venezuela are choosing lawmakers, governors and other officials Sunday in polling being held against a backdrop of heightened government repression and opposition calls to boycott the election.

The election is the first to allow broad voter participation since last year’s presidential contest, which President Nicolás Maduro claimed to have won despite credible evidence to the contrary. It is taking place two days after the government detained dozens of people, including a prominent opposition leader, and linked them to an alleged plot to hinder the vote. In the first hours after polls opened, members of the military outnumbered voters in some voting centers in the capital, Caracas.

— The Associated Press