MIDVALE — Even if Nicolás Maduro claimed victory in presidential voting in Venezuela on Sunday, Norely Lopez — a vocal critic of the leader and one of many disputing his assertion — isn't accepting defeat.

"There are things that still need to be done. You have to wait," the Venezuelan transplant now living in Midvale said Monday, alluding to the formal vote-count process. "We are going to take it step by step, day by day."

Mayra Molina, head of the Venezuelan Alliance of Utah, a cultural organization, expressed disappointment, also disputing Maduro's claims. Most Venezuelans, she and Lopez say, are foes of the Maduro government.

"We all know that it was a fraud, that he rigged the elections. There's no doubt about that," Molina charged.

Whatever the case, presuming Maduro stays in power for a third term, Molina suspects the exodus of Venezuelans to neighboring South American nations, the United States and other countries will continue. "Every one of us is — I don't know how to say it — heartbroken," said Molina, originally from Venezuela but now living in American Fork.

Venezuelans went to the polls Sunday to pick a new leader, Maduro foes buoyed by independent polling showing opposition hopeful Edmundo González Urrutia with a wide lead. At the same time, thousands of Venezuelans in Utah gathered on Sunday in Herriman as a show of support for the opposition, singing, dancing and keeping tabs on the vote process in Venezuela via friends, family and online news reports.

Lopez, who helped organize the Herriman event as a leader of Comando ConVzla in Utah, part of a global coalition of foes of the Maduro government, said the atmosphere outside Herriman City Hall on Sunday was jubilant. On Monday, she remained resolute, even as Maduro and Venezuelan election officials said he won.

"Everyone knows that those results are false. ... It's clear to everyone what happened," she said. Lopez had expected maybe 500 people at Sunday's event, but estimates the crowd numbered 2,000 to 3,000.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said Sunday that González had won some 70% of the votes, according to NBC News, while Lopez maintained that González had mustered a majority of votes in every Venezuelan state. "Now we have to wait and stay tuned to what happens," Lopez said, saying what transpires in the vote-count process in the next three days will be key in determining the nation's future trajectory.

Molina, by contrast, expressed skepticism at the notion of challenging Maduro, who took over as the Venezuelan leader in 2013 after the death of Hugo Chávez, a socialist, like Maduro, and the former president. "We know that Maduro is capable of doing whatever it takes to stay in power. These elections were our only hope," she said.

Indeed, many Venezuelans in Utah and around the United States have been closely watching the election, she said, some saying they'd return if González won. Nearly 8 million Venezuelans have left the South American nation under Maduro, most fleeing to Colombia and other nearby nations but many coming to Utah and the rest of the United States. Critics charge the Maduro government with corruption, committing rights abuses, suppressing the opposition and leading in dictatorial fashion.

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"People were really hopeful that things were going to be OK and the opposition was going to be elected," Molina said.

Now, presuming Maduro ends up staying in power, Molina expects the opposite — the departure of another wave of Venezuelans from the country. The influx of immigrants from Venezuela and elsewhere has been a sore point in the United States, with many U.S. leaders calling for tighter controls at the border to better control inflows.

"They're not going to be able to maintain themselves, have good jobs," Molina said. What's more, she suspects members of the opposition will face backlash from the Maduro regime, further spurring departures.

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