Description of Electoral System:

(courtesy of IFES election guide, Venezuelan Constitution, Venezuelan Electoral Code and Electoral National Council of Venezuela)

The Electoral National Council is the maximum governing being of the Electoral authority, has organisms subordinated to this one, the National Electoral Assembly, the Commission of Civil and Electoral Registry and the Commission of Political Participation and Financing, with the organization and the operation that the respective statutory law establishes. It is an organ of administrative contentious jurisdictional branch.The Electoral National Council organizes the electoral process, and also has the faculty to also organize all the referred with the syndicate, gremial and the civil society elections.

The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 6-year term. In the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional), 165 members are elected by popular vote and 3 seats are reserved for the indigenous peoples of Venezuela; all serve 5-year terms.

For the election’s President it uses the relative majority system in first and second electoral round.  It has also, the unique uninominal vote. The election for the President it will become by free, universal, direct and secret voting, in accordance with the Law. The election also used the majority Electoral System or Relative Majority. The candidate will proclaim themselves elect whom will have obtained most of valid votes.

For the deputies of the National Assembly two types exist: The 105 uninominal deputies and the 21 plurinominals, also they include the uninominal. So, it has to types of votes, ones for the uninominals candidatures and other for the plurinominals list that are blocked and closed. That means that two types of circumscriptions for the election of Deputies to the National Assembly exist, a estate type (according to territorial the political division) to the aims of the calculation of the Proportional Representation and another (s) Nominal one, in a number that will depend on the amount of benches to elect by the majority modality and on the fulfillment of the following terms (applied in elections 2000):

1. For the election of nominal deputies to the National Assembly and the legislative advice the electoral circumscription will be conformed by a municipality or grouping of contiguous municipalities.

2. For the conformation of the electoral circumscriptions, a population index will be determined. This considered population will divide itself between the numbers of positions to choose nominally, the resulting number will be the index of the corresponding population.

3. When electoral circumscriptions are satisfied whose population is equivalent to more of a nominal position, according to the described index, choose so many positions as it corresponds.

Finally, the conclusion is the system of voting used for the elections of Deputies to the National Assembly was a variant of the system of double vote, one of nominal type in nominal circumscriptions (that can include one or more votes, if its uninominal or plurinominal) and one by a closed and blocked list. (Combined Electoral System: Majority 60% - Nominal and 40% Proportional Representation - List)

Another one of the characteristics of the electoral system is that they exist a Electoral Assembly with temporary character at time of elections. It’s important to indicate that the Judicial Branch also distributes the Electoral Justice.

Electoral Managment Bodies (EMB's)

(Cortesy of National Jury of Elections)

• National Electoral Council

     Dra. Tibisay Lucena

     Centro Simón Bolívar. Nivel Mezzanina, Frente a la Plaza Caracas

     (58212) 408-4602

Upcoming Elections

(Cortesy of National Jury of Elections and the Organic Law of Suffragge and Political Participation, art. 85)

On February 15^th of 2009 will take place the “Constitutional Referendum, to approve or disapprove the amendments of the articles 160, 162, 174, 192 and 230 of the National Constitution of Venezuela”, in order to allow immediate reelection of any popular position in a continuous and indefinite way.

 To vote is required to be over of 18 years and be registered in the Electoral Registry.