1968 Venezuelan general election

General elections were held in Venezuela on 1 December 1968.[1] The presidential election was won by Rafael Caldera of Copei, who received 29.1% of the vote.[2] Acción Democrática (Democratic Action, AD) remained the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate. Voter turnout was 96.7% in the presidential election and 94.5% in the Congressional elections.[3] When Caldera took office in March 1969, it marked the first time in Venezuela's history as an independent nation that the sitting government peacefully transferred power to an elected member of the opposition.

1968 Venezuelan general election
1 December 1968
Presidential election
Turnout96.73%
 
Nominee Rafael Caldera Gonzalo Barrios
Party Copei Democratic Action
Popular vote 1,083,712 1,050,806
Percentage 29.13% 28.24%
 
Nominee Miguel Burelli Luis Prieto
Party URD MEP
Popular vote 826,758 719,461
Percentage 22.22% 19.34%
President before election

Raúl Leoni
Democratic Action

 Elected President

Rafael Caldera
Copei

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Background

The election was shaped by a split in AD. Luis Beltrán Prieto Figueroa, then President of the Venezuelan Senate and President of AD, won the AD primary election (held in 1967). His nomination was overturned in favor of Gonzalo Barrios by the Rómulo Betancourt faction of AD, which considered Prieto Figueroa too left-wing.[4] Prieto Figueroa and a substantial number of his supporters then split from AD and formed a new party: the People's Electoral Movement ("Movimiento Electoral del Pueblo" - MEP).[4] Ultimately, Prieto finished fourth, but his 719,000 votes far exceeded the 32,900-vote gap between Caldera and Barrios.

Results

President
CandidatePartyVotes%
Rafael CalderaCopei–MDI1,083,71229.13
Gonzalo BarriosAD–API–AIR–OPIR1,050,80628.24
Miguel Ángel Burelli RivasURD–FDP–FND–MENI826,75822.22
Luis Beltrán Prieto FigueroaMEP–PRIN–OPINA719,46119.34
Alejandro HernándezDemocratic Socialist Party27,3360.73
Germán BorregalesNational Action Movement12,5870.34
Total3,720,660100.00
Valid votes3,720,66093.03
Invalid/blank votes278,9576.97
Total votes3,999,617100.00
Registered voters/turnout4,134,92896.73
Source: Nohlen

Congress
PartyVotes%Seats
Chamber+/–Senate+/–
Democratic Action939,75925.5566019–3
Copei883,81424.0359+2016+8
People's Electoral Movement475,90912.9425New5New
Nationalist Civic Crusade402,35110.9421New4New
Democratic Republican Union340,1959.2518–113–4
Popular Democratic Front194,9315.3010–62–2
Union for Progress103,5912.825New1New
Democratic National Front96,0272.614New1New
Revolutionary Party of Nationalist Integration88,5092.414New1New
Democratic Socialist Party29,9200.811000
National Action Movement24,4070.661+100
Independent Democratic Movement18,3370.500New0New
Independent Popular Alliance18,3320.500New0New
Independent National Electoral Movement13,8470.380–100
Revolutionary Independent Action9,1540.250New0New
National Opinion7,3390.200New0New
18 other parties31,6620.860–0–
Total3,678,084100.00214+3552+5
Valid votes3,678,08494.12
Invalid/blank votes229,7395.88
Total votes3,907,823100.00
Registered voters/turnout4,134,92894.51
Source: Nohlen

References
  1. Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II, p555 ISBN 978-0-19-928358-3
  2. Nohlen, p580
  3. Nohlen, p556
  4. Swanson, D. L.; Mancini, P. (1996) Politics, media, and modern democracy: an international study of innovations in electoral campaigning and their consequences, Greenwood Publishing Group, p244
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