2000 Venezuelan general election

General elections were held in Venezuela on 30 July 2000, the first under the country's newly adopted 1999 constitution. Incumbent President Hugo Chávez ran for election for a full six-year term under the new constitution. He was challenged by another leftist and former ally, Zulia Governor Francisco Arias Cárdenas. Chávez won the election with almost 60% of the popular vote, increasing his vote share over the previous elections and managing to carry a larger number of states. Arias Cárdenas only managed to narrowly carry his home state of Zulia.

2000 Venezuelan general election

30 July 2000
Presidential election
← 1998 2006 →
Turnout	56.63%
Nominee Hugo Chávez Francisco Arias Cárdenas Party MVR LCR Popular vote 3,757,773 2,359,459 Percentage 59.76% 37.52%
Results by state
President before election Hugo Chávez PSUV Elected President Hugo Chávez PSUV
Legislative election
← 1998 30 July 2000 2005 →
Party Leader Vote % Seats MVR Hugo Chávez 44.38 92 Democratic Action Henry Ramos Allup 16.11 33 PROVE Henrique Salas Römer 6.94 6 COPEI Luis Ignacio Planas 5.10 6 MAS Felipe Mujica 5.03 6 LCR Andrés Velásquez 4.41 3 PJ Henrique Capriles 2.47 5 Fatherland for All José Albornoz 2.27 1 UNT Manuel Rosales 1.75 3 Convergence Eduardo Lapi 1.07 4 MIGATO José Gregorio Briceño 0.47 1 PUAMA 0.04 1 MD 0.01 1 Indigenous – – 3 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Results by constituency and party-list vote by state

Background

The elections were for all popularly elected positions at different levels of government, which numbered more than six thousand.^[1] Venezuela was going through economic problems: although the price of oil had tripled since Chávez had become president, the economy had shrunk by 7%, unemployment had increased and foreign investors had moved away from the country.^[2] However, in spite of these problems and with the traditional political parties weakened, Chavez's reelection was imminent.^[1]

The elections were originally scheduled for 28 May, but the directors of the National Electoral Council (CNE), appointed by the Chavista majority in the Constituent Assembly, proved to be inefficient and only two days before the elections were to be held, the Supreme Court of Justice suspended the vote as the Electoral Council was not ready yet.^[3] Arias Cárdenas called his supporters to gather in front of the CNE to protest, but they were repelled by a group of Chavistas.^{[citation needed]}

Presidential candidates

Only two politicians, Antonio Ledezma and Claudio Fermín, both former members of Democratic Action and former mayors of the Libertador Municipality of Caracas, made public their intentions to run against Chávez, both independently. Unexpectedly, in mid-February 2000, Chávez allies Francisco Arias Cárdenas, Jesús Urdaneta and Joel Acosta Chirinos; made a public statement giving Chávez an ultimatum to imprison some members of his government, claiming they had irrefutable evidence proving their corruption, including the president of the legislative power, Luis Miquilena, and foreign affairs minister José Vicente Rangel.^[2][4] Chávez responded by criticizing his former colleagues, whom he reproached for "not having washed the rags at home".^[4]

On 15 March Arias Cárdenas, supported by Urdaneta and Acosta Chirinos, registered his candidacy for the presidential election. Upon learning of this, Ledezma withdrew his but Fermin did not.^[1] Miquilena's response was to qualify as "trash" those who abandoned Chávez to support Arias Cárdenas.^[5] The new opposition leader received support from La Causa R and a handful of small leftist parties, although not from Democratic Action and Copei. Even though some analysts considered Arias Cardenas more pragmatic than Chávez, others such as Eleazar Díaz Rangel declared that they were basically the same.^[6]

Electoral system

Representatives in the National Assembly were elected under a mixed member proportional representation, with 60% elected from single seat districts and the remainder by closed party lists.^[7]

Results

President

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Hugo Chávez	Fifth Republic Movement	3,757,773	59.76
	Francisco Arias Cárdenas	Radical Cause	2,359,459	37.52
	Claudio Fermín	National Encounter	171,346	2.72
Total			6,288,578	100.00
Valid votes			6,288,578	94.75
Invalid/blank votes			348,698	5.25
Total votes			6,637,276	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			11,720,660	56.63
Source: CNE

National Assembly

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Fifth Republic Movement	1,977,992	44.38	92
	Democratic Action	718,148	16.11	33
	Project Venezuela	309,168	6.94	6
	Copei	227,349	5.10	6
	Movement for Socialism	224,170	5.03	6
	Radical Cause	196,787	4.41	3
	Justice First	109,900	2.47	5
	Fatherland for All	101,246	2.27	1
	A New Era	78,109	1.75	3
	Fearless People's Alliance	49,218	1.10	0
	Voters of Miranda	48,291	1.08	0
	Convergence	47,620	1.07	4
	Democratic Left	37,230	0.84	0
	National Encounter	37,036	0.83	0
	United for Human Rights	33,669	0.76	0
	MIGATO	21,044	0.47	1
	Movement for Direct Democracy	19,856	0.45	0
	Communist Party of Venezuela	15,997	0.36	0
	Independent Solidarity	15,272	0.34	0
	Red Flag Party	14,273	0.32	0
	National Integration Movement	11,234	0.25	0
	Organisation Force in Motion	10,547	0.24	0
	Formula 1	10,163	0.23	0
	Independents for National Community	7,760	0.17	0
	FCT	6,869	0.15	0
	Builders of a Country	6,259	0.14	0
	Caroni Decides	8,788	0.20	0
	Emerging People	5,044	0.11	0
	New Democratic Regime	4,403	0.10	0
	Organised Renovation And Emerging Group	4,050	0.09	0
	Revolutionary Apureño Movement	3,952	0.09	0
	People's Electoral Movement	3,738	0.08	0
	Social Democratic Alliance	3,173	0.07	0
	Advanced Regional Movement	2,939	0.07	0
	Independent Regional Emerging Movement	2,686	0.06	0
	Voluntariado	2,643	0.06	0
	Democratic Republican Union	2,641	0.06	0
	Acijusta	2,561	0.06	0
	Communities United for Reason and Self-Esteem	2,493	0.06	0
	Trabuco Mirandino	2,448	0.05	0
	Justice Patrol	2,439	0.05	0
	Integration, Representation and New Hope	2,401	0.05	0
	United for Vargas	2,348	0.05	0
	Ospinero Independent Front for Portuguesa	2,311	0.05	0
	Iniciativa Propia	2,163	0.05	0
	Organised Independent Indigenous Movement	1,967	0.04	0
	United Multi-Ethnic Peoples of Amazonas	1,837	0.04	1
	Out of Love for Venezuela	1,751	0.04	0
	MDD	1,733	0.04	0
	Organised Citizen Option	1,720	0.04	0
	Towards the Good Homeland	1,683	0.04	0
	Social Cause	1,659	0.04	0
	Optimistic People	1,540	0.03	0
	New Insular Generation	1,509	0.03	0
	Renewing Democracy 2000	1,505	0.03	0
	Movimiento Civilista Adelante Cojedes	1,398	0.03	0
	Citizens in Action	1,274	0.03	0
	Voluntariado Organizado Zuliano	1,181	0.03	0
	Reto Popular Merideño	1,112	0.02	0
	Authentic Renewal Organization	1,066	0.02	0
	Comando de Partecipación Comunitaria	995	0.02	0
	National Opinion	956	0.02	0
	Movimiento Patriotico Ciudadano "Yo Existo"	936	0.02	0
	Vision Social Constituyente	927	0.02	0
	Apoyo Profesional	912	0.02	0
	Organización Contra el Abuso	762	0.02	0
	Fuerza Popular	747	0.02	0
	Caricuao Somos Todos	740	0.02	0
	Depostistas	711	0.02	0
	Rompe el Silencio	695	0.02	0
	Movimiento Ecologico para la Vida	693	0.02	0
	Pueblo Revolucionario al Cambio y Desarrollo Larense	688	0.02	0
	Movimiento Democratico	687	0.02	1
	Fuerza Activa de Partecipación	635	0.01	0
	Partecipación Popular	590	0.01	0
	Frente Civico de Militantes Zulianos	576	0.01	0
	Movimiento 100	567	0.01	0
	Frente Insular Organizado de Electores	547	0.01	0
	Patriotas Revolucionarios Independientes	545	0.01	0
	Decision de Portuguesa	544	0.01	0
	Poder Vecinal	535	0.01	0
	Movimiento Unitario Real Opcion	527	0.01	0
	Foro Democratico	524	0.01	0
	Opening for National Participation	522	0.01	0
	Movimiento Republicano	511	0.01	0
	Guaiqueres en Acción	509	0.01	0
	Frente Nacionalista Maisanta	508	0.01	0
	Movimiento De Base Parroquial Zuliano	508	0.01	0
	RC	472	0.01	0
	TU CAMINO	457	0.01	0
	ARENA	455	0.01	0
	MOV 20	451	0.01	0
	REALCI	429	0.01	0
	CAMVIO	403	0.01	0
	FALCONIA	396	0.01	0
	AR	386	0.01	0
	DP	379	0.01	0
	EL	372	0.01	0
	SOLUCION	370	0.01	0
	MIAU	368	0.01	0
	APD	363	0.01	0
	M2000	359	0.01	0
	ACTIVE	356	0.01	0
	VOTAUNIDOS	351	0.01	0
	CENUREPU	350	0.01	0
	PODER MORAL	341	0.01	0
	G CONDOR	332	0.01	0
	IPRS	329	0.01	0
	OPC REG 98	327	0.01	0
	PROY III MELENIO	322	0.01	0
	MCR 200	320	0.01	0
	FPC	313	0.01	0
	CON	312	0.01	0
	MP	307	0.01	0
	NFG	289	0.01	0
	PPA	289	0.01	0
	CON GUARICO	285	0.01	0
	MDR	285	0.01	0
	SOID SIGLO XXI	269	0.01	0
	EL PODER 7	261	0.01	0
	TRIPLE C	256	0.01	0
	IND AL 2000	241	0.01	0
	MEV VARGAS	239	0.01	0
	ASIR	238	0.01	0
	AB 2000	237	0.01	0
	IAP	228	0.01	0
	FT	223	0.01	0
	VARGAS AL PRO	223	0.01	0
	IPV	216	0.00	0
	VEA	216	0.00	0
	BS21	214	0.00	0
	MHM	202	0.00	0
	UVI	193	0.00	0
	IS	187	0.00	0
	AMI	180	0.00	0
	PN	169	0.00	0
	FRD	163	0.00	0
	CORDIALIDAD	144	0.00	0
	POPA	129	0.00	0
	MOREI 2000	116	0.00	0
	VEA	109	0.00	0
	T UCLAS	103	0.00	0
	MOCI	101	0.00	0
	MLI	100	0.00	0
	MRG 2000	100	0.00	0
	AV 98	94	0.00	0
	CONPACO	94	0.00	0
	PACIFICO	90	0.00	0
	SER	88	0.00	0
	POETA	84	0.00	0
	AI	80	0.00	0
	MIO	77	0.00	0
	INITA	74	0.00	0
	MIA AMAZONAS	71	0.00	0
	PM	71	0.00	0
	DEPURACION	70	0.00	0
	FAI	64	0.00	0
	CFPI	61	0.00	0
	PCMI	58	0.00	0
	MJPT	57	0.00	0
	MUPI	49	0.00	0
	OPIC	48	0.00	0
	GIR AMAZONAS	41	0.00	0
	MOVE	40	0.00	0
	MU CAMBIO	39	0.00	0
	DR 2000	38	0.00	0
	INCVF	35	0.00	0
	MOVES 21	33	0.00	0
	PARTICIPA	21	0.00	0
	MEAI	13	0.00	0
	MIRA	8	0.00	0
	TSV	8	0.00	0
	CI	5	0.00	0
Indigenous representatives				3
Total		4,457,296	100.00	165
Valid votes		4,457,296	67.96
Invalid/blank votes		2,101,850	32.04
Total votes		6,559,146	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		11,705,702	56.03
Source: CNE, CNE

References

1. Aznárez, Juan Jesús (19 March 2000). "Duelo de comandantes". El País (España). Retrieved 5 October 2012.
2. "Deriva venezolana". El País (España). 22 February 2000. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
3. Aznárez, Juan Jesús (26 May 2000). "El Tribunal Supremo de Venezuela suspende las elecciones por falta de condiciones técnicas". El País (España). Retrieved 5 October 2012.
4. Vinogradoff, Ludmila (17 February 2000). "Los compañeros golpistas de Chávez amenazan con retirarle el apoyo si no encarcela a varios altos cargos". El País (España). Retrieved 5 October 2012.
5. "Comentarios: Nubarrones en las Megaelecciones" (PDF). SIC (623): 120. 2000. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
6. Aznarez, Juan Jesús (29 July 2000). "Guerra sin cuartel entre las dos caras de la revolución bolivariana". El País (España). Retrieved 5 October 2012.
7. CNN, Venezuela (Presidential), accessed 27 September 2010