Elections in Venezuela

Elections in Venezuela are held at a national level for the President of Venezuela as head of state and head of government, and for a unicameral legislature. The President of Venezuela is elected for a six-year term by direct election plurality voting, and is eligible for re-election. The National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) has 277 members (diputados), elected for five-year terms using a mixed-member majoritarian representation system. Elections also take place at state level and local level.

Since 1998, elections in Venezuela have been automated (using touch-screen DRE voting machines which provide a Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail), and administered by the National Electoral Council. The voting age is 18, and (as of 2011) 95% of eligible voters are legally registered.

Prior to the early 1990s, Venezuela was considered an unusually long-standing and stable liberal democracy in Latin America, having transitioned to democracy in 1958.^[1]^[2]^[3] After the victory of socialist populist Hugo Chávez in the 1998 presidential election, Venezuela gradually underwent democratic backsliding before transitioning to an authoritarian system of government where political and civil rights are not protected, and elections are not free and fair.^[4]^[1]^[3]^[5]^[6] Under Chávez's rule and later under the rule of his successor Nicolás Maduro, power has been concentrated in the hands of the executive, institutional checks and balances have been undermined, independent media have been repressed, and opposition forces have been marginalized in governing institutions, such as congress, courts, oversight agencies, the state-owned petroleum company (PDVSA), and the military.^[1]^[2]^[7]^[5]

Politics are polarized between supporters of President Nicolás Maduro, organized as the United Socialist Party (PSUV) and the Great Patriotic Pole, and several opposition parties. Opposition parties and opposition candidates have regularly been banned from contesting elections.^[1] At other times, opposition parties have boycotted national elections, citing their undemocratic nature.^[1] Venezuela was ranked the third least electoral democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean according to V-Dem Democracy indices in 2023 with a score of 0.214 out of one.^[8]^[9]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Gamboa, Laura, ed. (2022), ""Chávez Vete Ya": The Erosion of Democracy in Venezuela", Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies against the Erosion of Democracy, Cambridge University Press, pp. 98–128, doi:10.1017/9781009164085.004, ISBN 978-1-009-16408-5, Up until the 1990s, Venezuela was one of the longest-running and most stable uninterrupted liberal democracies in Latin America. Today, it is an authoritarian regime. In nineteen years, Hugo Chávez and his successor, Nicolás Maduro, managed to destroy the system of checks and balances, end free and fair elections, and terminate political rights and civil liberties. The government has delayed and canceled elections, circumvented the authority of the elected legislature, imprisoned political opponents without trial, used lethal force against protesters, and banned opposition parties.
^ ^a ^b Roberts, Kenneth M. (2012), Mudde, Cas; Rovira Kaltwasser, Cristóbal (eds.), "Populism and democracy in Venezuela under Hugo Chávez", Populism in Europe and the Americas: Threat or Corrective for Democracy?, Cambridge University Press, pp. 136–159, doi:10.1017/cbo9781139152365.008, ISBN 978-1-107-02385-7
^ ^a ^b Mainwaring, Scott (2012). "From Representative Democracy to Participatory Competitive Authoritarianism: Hugo Chávez and Venezuelan Politics". Perspectives on Politics. 10 (4): 955–967. doi:10.1017/S1537592712002629. ISSN 1537-5927.
^ Handlin, Samuel, ed. (2017), "Democratic Erosion in Venezuela, Representative Democracy in Brazil", State Crisis in Fragile Democracies: Polarization and Political Regimes in South America, Cambridge University Press, pp. 136–172, doi:10.1017/9781108233682.005, ISBN 978-1-108-41542-2
^ ^a ^b Corrales, Javier (2015). "The Authoritarian Resurgence: Autocratic Legalism in Venezuela". Journal of Democracy.
^ Boersner, Adriana (2021). "The Path Toward Authoritarianism in Venezuela". Oxford Bibliographies.
^ Brewer-Carías, Allan R. (2010). Dismantling Democracy in Venezuela: The Chávez Authoritarian Experiment. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-49235-5.
^ V-Dem Institute (2023). "The V-Dem Dataset". Retrieved 14 October 2023.
^ Democracy Report 2023, Table 3, V-Dem Institute, 2023

[:53-1] Gamboa, Laura, ed. (2022), ""Chávez Vete Ya": The Erosion of Democracy in Venezuela", Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies against the Erosion of Democracy, Cambridge University Press, pp. 98–128, doi:10.1017/9781009164085.004, ISBN 978-1-009-16408-5, Up until the 1990s, Venezuela was one of the longest-running and most stable uninterrupted liberal democracies in Latin America. Today, it is an authoritarian regime. In nineteen years, Hugo Chávez and his successor, Nicolás Maduro, managed to destroy the system of checks and balances, end free and fair elections, and terminate political rights and civil liberties. The government has delayed and canceled elections, circumvented the authority of the elected legislature, imprisoned political opponents without trial, used lethal force against protesters, and banned opposition parties.

[:62-2] Roberts, Kenneth M. (2012), Mudde, Cas; Rovira Kaltwasser, Cristóbal (eds.), "Populism and democracy in Venezuela under Hugo Chávez", Populism in Europe and the Americas: Threat or Corrective for Democracy?, Cambridge University Press, pp. 136–159, doi:10.1017/cbo9781139152365.008, ISBN 978-1-107-02385-7

[:83-3] Mainwaring, Scott (2012). "From Representative Democracy to Participatory Competitive Authoritarianism: Hugo Chávez and Venezuelan Politics". Perspectives on Politics. 10 (4): 955–967. doi:10.1017/S1537592712002629. ISSN 1537-5927.

[4] Handlin, Samuel, ed. (2017), "Democratic Erosion in Venezuela, Representative Democracy in Brazil", State Crisis in Fragile Democracies: Polarization and Political Regimes in South America, Cambridge University Press, pp. 136–172, doi:10.1017/9781108233682.005, ISBN 978-1-108-41542-2

[:92-5] Corrales, Javier (2015). "The Authoritarian Resurgence: Autocratic Legalism in Venezuela". Journal of Democracy.

[6] Boersner, Adriana (2021). "The Path Toward Authoritarianism in Venezuela". Oxford Bibliographies.

[7] Brewer-Carías, Allan R. (2010). Dismantling Democracy in Venezuela: The Chávez Authoritarian Experiment. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-49235-5.

[vdem_dataset-8] V-Dem Institute (2023). "The V-Dem Dataset". Retrieved 14 October 2023.

[vdem_report-9] Democracy Report 2023, Table 3, V-Dem Institute, 2023

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]