Voting-rights profile
Venezuela
South America · ve
Bolivarian republic; the president is elected by direct popular vote for a six-year term. Elections are administered by the National Electoral Council (CNE), constitutionally an independent branch of electoral power.
Profile last reviewed July 24, 2026
Venezuela adopted universal, direct and secret suffrage in 1947 — among the first in Latin America to enfranchise women — and rebuilt democracy in 1958 after dictatorship. The 1999 Bolivarian constitution created the National Electoral Council as an independent electoral power, but two decades of institutional capture hollowed that independence out. The low point came in July 2024, when the CNE declared Nicolás Maduro re-elected without ever publishing polling-station results, while opposition-collected tally sheets showed his rival winning by a wide margin; the Carter Center concluded the election could not be considered democratic.
How voting works today
- Voting age
- 18 and over
- Voter registration
- Voter-initiated
- Identification
- Photo ID required
- Compulsory voting
- No
- Postal voting
- Not available
- Early voting
- Not available
- Online voting
- Not available
- Voting from abroad
- Restricted
Voting is in person on electronic machines that print a paper receipt. Voters must be inscribed in the electoral registry and present their national identity card. Voting abroad exists at embassies and consulates, but registration barriers kept most of the large emigrant diaspora from voting in 2024.
How the franchise changed
Every entry records a change in who could vote, or how — expansions, restrictions and procedural reforms alike.
- 1947Expansion
Universal, direct and secret suffrage was introduced for the 1947 general election — women voted for the first time, and illiterates were enfranchised.
- 1958Expansion
Competitive elections resumed after the fall of the Pérez Jiménez dictatorship, opening four decades of party-based democracy.
- 1999Reform
The Bolivarian Constitution made electoral power an independent branch of the state, embodied in the National Electoral Council (CNE).
- 2009Reform
A constitutional amendment approved by referendum abolished term limits, allowing indefinite re-election to the presidency.
- 2024Restriction
The CNE declared a presidential winner without publishing polling-station results as the law requires, cancelled planned audits, and the government-aligned Supreme Court validated the announced result; the Carter Center said the election could not be considered democratic.
Carter Center Statement on Venezuela Election
Safeguards on the count
- Ballot type
- Electronic with paper trail
- Post-election audit
- Ad hoc
- Election administration
- Independent commission
- Domestic observers
- Yes
- International observers
- Yes
The CNE is constitutionally independent, but its leadership is widely regarded as government-aligned. Voting machines print receipts that feed polling-station tally sheets (actas) — the artifact that made 2024 checkable: opposition witnesses collected actas from 81.7% of stations. Audits are provided for in law but were cancelled after the 2024 vote, and international access has narrowed to small expert missions; the EU's 2024 invitation was issued and then revoked.
Worth knowing
- In 2024 the opposition published scanned tally sheets from 81.7% of polling stations, collected by its accredited witnesses — showing Edmundo González with 67% of the vote, against the CNE's announced 51% for Maduro.Presidential results by polling station (actas) — resultadosconvzla.com
- The Carter Center verified that the published actas carry the security features of genuine CNE tally sheets and concluded the announced result was statistically implausible against them.Carter Center Statement on Venezuela Election
Elections in the database
People
- CandidateEdmundo González UrrutiaPresidential candidate of the Unitary Platform (2024)
- Head of stateNicolás MaduroPresident of Venezuela
Sources
- Carter Center Statement on Venezuela Election— The Carter Center
- Presidential results by polling station (actas) — resultadosconvzla.com— Comando Con Vzla (Unitary Platform opposition campaign)
- Voter Turnout Database— International IDEA