Venezuela: Presidential Election, 20 May 2018

At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Venezuela

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Nicolás MADURO Moras *
• Head of Government: President Nicolás MADURO Moras
• Assembly: Venezuela has a unicameral National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) with 167 seats.

* The president is both the chief of state and head of government. In 2009, a national referendum approved the elimination of term limits on all elected officials, including the presidency.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by plurality vote to serve a 6-year term.
• In the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional), 65 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms, 68 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms, 31 members are elected by plurality vote in multi-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms and 3 members are reserved for indigenous peoples to serve 5-year terms.***

*** Parties may nominate candidates for both the nominal and ordinal tiers.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Nicolás MADURO Moras
  • Party: United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) / Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela
• Reinaldo QUIJADA
  • Party: Popular Politcal Unity 89 / Unidad Política Popular 89 (UPP89)
• Javier BERTUCCI
  • Hope for Change / Esperanza por el Cambio
• Henri FALCON
  • Party: Christian Social Party/ Partido Socialcristiano (Copei)

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 28,047,938 (July 2012 est)
• Registered Voters: 18,904,364 ( 2012 est.)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 14,967,959 (2012)

·         Is Venezuela a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Venezuela ratified CEDAW: Yes (2 May 1983)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: N/A

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 28 (following the 2010 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 71 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Venezuela a signatory to CRPD: No

·         Has Venezuela ratified CRPD: Yes, accession (24 September 2013)

·         Population with a disability: 4,207,190 (est.)