[1] After the approval of a constitutional amendment in 2009 that abolished term limits, incumbent Hugo Chávez, representing the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) was able to present himself again as a candidate after his re-election in 2006.

The candidates were backed by opposing electoral coalitions; Chávez by the Great Patriotic Pole (Gran Polo Patriótico, GPP), and Capriles by the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD).

Since 1998 elections in Venezuela have been highly automated,[7] and administered by a non-partisan National Electoral Council, with poll workers drafted via a lottery of registered voters.

[citation needed] Incumbent president Hugo Chávez Frías announced he would seek re-election at a University Students' Day rally held in Caracas in November 2010.

[citation needed] The opposition parties were grouped in the Democratic Unity Roundtable whose candidate was selected through an open primary election held on 12 February 2012.

[15] Other parties in the coalition include A New Era (Un Nuevo Tiempo, UNT), Democratic Action (Acción Democrática, AD), COPEI (Comité de Organización Política Electoral Independiente), and Movement to Socialism (Movimiento al Socialismo, MAS).

[23][24] On Tuesday 14 February, in response to "a losing mayoral candidate, who asked that the ballots be preserved for review",[25] the Supreme Court of Venezuela ordered the military to collect the voting rolls "so that electoral authorities could use them to investigate alleged irregularities during Sunday's elections".

One young man, Arnaldo Espinoza, was run over and killed by a police tow truck that backed up suddenly, attempting to separate people who were protecting the vehicle belonging to the vice-president of the regional office for the primary elections in the state of Aragua.

[18] According to The Washington Times, Chávez said the opposition represents "the rich and the U.S. government"; as part of his campaign, he increased social spending and investments to benefit the poor, and plans to launch a satellite made in China before the elections.

[32] In an interview with the GlobalPost, Capriles said his campaign was based on "improving education, which he sees as a long-term solution to the country's insecurity and deep poverty".

[35] On 6 September 2012 opposition legislator William Ojeda denounced these plans and the "neoliberal obsessions" of his colleagues in the MUD;[36] he was suspended by his A New Era party the following day.

[44] CNN stated "outlines" of a successor were seen in the appointments of two Chávez allies to top posts;[44] Diosdado Cabello as president of the National Assembly of Venezuela and Henry Rangel Silva as minister of defense.

[32][51] The Wall Street Journal said that Capriles "was vilified in a campaign in Venezuela's state-run media, which insinuated he was, among other things, a homosexual and a Zionist agent".

[25] The United States-based organisations Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Anti-Defamation League condemned the attacks and voiced concern to Chávez, who vowed in 2009 to punish incidents of antisemitism.

[50][54] In early July 2012 Capriles published a document allegedly showing that the government had ordered all military personnel not to view private television networks.

[56] According to Reuters, "Polls are historically controversial in Venezuela", pointing out that "Venezuelan pollsters – who range from a former Chavez minister to an openly pro-opposition figure – also tend to double as political analysts, offering partisan opinions in state media or opposition-linked newspapers.

"[57] In addition, it said that "As in previous elections, a proliferation of little-known public opinion firms with no discernable track record have emerged from obscurity promoting polls that appear to openly favor one candidate or the other.

[57] The Chavez campaign accused Datanalisis and Consultores 21 of inventing polls to support opposition plans to claim fraud in the event of defeat.

[59] In March 2012, at a visit by Capriles to the San José de Cotiza Caracas neighbourhood, a group of armed members of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) began firing guns "in an apparent effort to break up the rally".

Journalists for television channel Globovisión had been covering the rally; its crew, consisting of reporter Sasha Ackerman, cameraman Frank Fernández and assistant Esteban Navas were threatened by the armed men, who confiscated their equipment and footage of the shootings.

[89] Venezuela's justice minister, Tarek El Aissami, accused opposition supporters of perpetrating the attacks "to generate this show", while other government officials claimed that Capriles' bodyguards "were the ones to start shooting".

Of the "list of actions" he said he was preparing in response, Chávez said he was willing to nationalise banks or companies that supported the opposition should they "[violate] the constitution and the national plan.

Reiterating that he would win with at least 70% of the votes, Chávez said that he had created a civil-military command to neutralize any "destabilization plans" in the event that the opposition did not recognise the results.