Elections in Venezuela
The National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) has 277 members (diputados), elected for five-year terms using a mixed-member majoritarian representation system.
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.
[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.
After considerable political tumult, the local nobility announced an extraordinary open hearing of the cabildo (the municipal council) on 19 April.
Mendoza was author of the Venezuelan Declaration of Independence,[12] formally issued on 5 July 1811,[10][12] on which date the presidential designation also took effect.
[12] The Congress established a Confederation called the United States of Venezuela in the Constitution, crafted mostly by lawyer Juan Germán Roscio, that it ratified on 21 December 1811.
The Constitution created a strong bicameral legislature and, as also happened in neighboring New Granada, the Congress kept the weak executive consisting of a triumvirate.
In 1830, José Antonio Páez declared Venezuela independent from Gran Colombia and became president, taking office on January 13, 1830.
[15] Voters were asked whether they approved of President Marcos Pérez Jiménez remaining in power without fresh elections, and appointing government nominees as members of the national parliament, regional assemblies and local councils.
[18] The elections also saw "the world's first automated voting system, which featured a single integrated electronic network that was supposed to transmit the results from the polling stations to central headquarters within minutes.
[18] In the 1998 presidential elections, one of candidate Hugo Chávez's electoral promises was to organize a referendum asking the people if they wanted to convene a National Constituent Assembly.
The Assembly is made up of 165 deputies (diputados), who are elected by "universal, direct, personal, and secret" vote on a national party-list proportional representation system.
[21] On 15 August 2007, PSUV founder and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez proposed an amendment to 33 articles of Venezuela's 350-article Constitution.
[22][23] Chávez stated that the proposed constitutional reforms were needed to complete the transition to a socialist republic[24] and to implement his Bolivarian Revolution.
[32] New versions of the Basic Law of Electoral Processes (Spanish: Ley Orgánica de Procesos Electorales, LOPE) were issued by the CNE on 7 June 2012[33] and 18 January 2013.
[39] The move was described by Janes Information Services as an attempt "to sideline and leapfrog the incoming opposition-controlled National Assembly".
[50] However, international organism including the Carter center and the United Nations contested this claim as being false and filled with irregularities.
Article 56 specifies that everyone has "the right to be registered free of charge with the Civil Registry Office after birth, and to obtain public documents constituting evidence of their biological identity, in accordance with the law."
Democracy in Venezuela developed during the twentieth century, with Democratic Action (founded in 1941) and its antecedents playing an important role in the early years.
By the end of the 1990s, however, the now two-party system's credibility was almost nonexistent, mostly because of the corruption and poverty that Venezuelans experienced because of the debt crisis developed during the 1980s.
Confidence in the traditional parties collapsed enough that the 1993 presidential elections were won by Rafael Caldera on around 30% of the vote, representing a new electoral coalition, National Convergence.
Since 1998 elections in Venezuela have become more automated, and administered by the National Electoral Council, with poll workers drafted via a lottery of registered voters.
[58] After the polls close at any voting table, the following steps are carried out:[56] Once the tally scrutinization is complete the staff proceeds to perform a random paper ballot audit of 54.31% of the machines.
[62] For the 2010 election, the Ley Orgánica de Procesos Electorales (LOPE) (Basic Law of Electoral Process) among other changes reduced the party list proportion to 30%.
[citation needed] Under the new law, in 2009, electoral districts were redefined in a way that has been accused of favouring the PSUV, particularly in giving more weight to votes in the countryside over those in the city.
[citation needed] One of the first "honest" presidential elections in Venezuela was held in 1947, with Rómulo Gallegos of Democratic Action receiving 74.3% of the vote.
[67] The following elections the presidential seat returned to Democratic Action, with Carlos Andrés Pérez receiving 48.7% of the vote[68] in a voter turnout of 96.5%.
[67] After being imprisoned for an attempted coup and then pardoned by Caldera, Hugo Chávez founded the Fifth Republic Movement and was elected president of Venezuela in 1998.
[71][72][73][74][75][76] Chavez was reelected in 2006 with over 60% of the votes,[70] and in 2009 a constitutional referendum resulted in the abolishment of term limits for the offices of President of Venezuela.
Regional and local elections were introduced following the work in the 1980s of the Commission for the Reform of the State (Comisión para la Reforma del Estado, COPRE).
