Caracas - Candidates allied with President Hugo Chavez won a majority of states in Venezuela's local elections Sunday, but the opposition took the capital city and the two most populous states.

The National Electoral Council said preliminary data gave the opposition victories in the states of Zulia, Miranda and Nueva Esparta, as well as the mayor's office of Caracas.

Council president Tibisay Lucena said the results in the states of Carabobo and Tachira were too close to call until all the votes could be counted.

She said the preliminary results were based on 95.6 per cent of the votes cast.

Lucena said the turnout was unusually high for state and local elections, as 64.5 per cent of the country's registered voters turned out to cast ballots.

The opposition doubled its gains from four years earlier, when it won only two state governors' races. (dpa)