It is more than triple the number needed to start organizing the process. Earlier, Mr Maduro dismissed the initiative, saying he would serve out his full mandate until 2019. Many Venezuelans are furious because of a deep recession, food shortages and a power crisis that has cut supply to four hours a day in most cities. Under Venezuela's constitution, presidents can be removed from office by means of a referendum once they have served half their term.
People participate during an event organized by the Venezuelan opposition collecting signatures as part of the process to seek a referendum to remove the president of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela
At this earliest stage, 1% of those on the electoral roll must sign the petition to start the process. "It's an extremely high number given that the National Electoral Board only requires a little under 200,000" signatures, said Enrique Marquez, deputy speaker of the opposition-controlled parliament. He said the signatures would be handed over to electoral officials next week.
'End anarchy'
Mr Maduro was sworn into office in April 2013 and is halfway through his six-year term. Thousands of Venezuelans queued to sign the petition in the capital, Caracas.
Steps towards a recall referendum
1. One per cent of voters on the electoral roll have to sign a petition within 30 days to kickstart the process
2, Twenty per cent of voters (almost four million) have to sign a second petition in order to trigger the referendum
3. For the referendum to be successful, an equal or greater number of voters than those who elected Mr Maduro would have to cast their vote in favour of the recall. Mr Maduro won the 2013 election with 7,587,579 votes
Miriam Leal, 54, told Agence France-Presse news agency that she was signing "to end this anarchy". "We don't have medicine, work, education, and on top of that there is the electricity problem," she explained. Like Ms Leal, many Venezuelans expressed their despair at the country's economic crisis which has seen inflation rise to the highest level in the world. The oil-rich country relies almost exclusively on oil exports for its revenues and has been badly hit by the global fall in oil prices. There are shortages of basic food items and medicines, and long queues form at supermarkets whenever some basic staple foods arrive. A drought has also caused water levels at the country's main hydroelectric dam to drop dramatically. Last week, President Maduro announced that power would be cut for four-hour periods daily except for in the capital, Caracas.
'Democratic exit'