Story highlights Criticism is unfounded, election official says, because company didn't see vote totals

Company sees disparity of at least 1 million votes in government's turnout figures

(CNN) Turnout figures for an election to a controversial new legislative body in Venezuela were manipulated, the company that provided the voting technology has said.

Antonio Mugica, CEO of London-based Smartmatic, said there was a discrepancy of at least 1 million votes between the officially declared tally in Sunday's election to the National Constituent Assembly and the one his company recorded. A full audit would be needed to confirm the exact numbers, he said.

Venezuela's National Electoral Council has reported that more than 8 million people, or about 41.53% of registered voters, cast ballots.

The head of the council called Mugica's assertions irresponsible.

Smartmatic is a technology support company and wouldn't have access to the final vote numbers, the council's Tibisay Lucena told reporters Wednesday afternoon.

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