2013 Venezuelan presidential election

2013 Venezuelan presidential election
← 2012 14 April 2013 (2013-04-14) 2018 →
Turnout79.65%
 
Candidate Nicolás Maduro Henrique Capriles
Party PSUV PJ
Alliance GPPSB MUD
Popular vote 7,587,579 7,363,980
Percentage 50.62% 49.12%
Results by state
Results per state
Results by municipality
Acting President before election

Nicolás Maduro
PSUV

Elected President

Nicolás Maduro
PSUV

Politics of Venezuela
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Presidential elections were held in Venezuela on 14 April 2013 following the death of President Hugo Chávez on 5 March 2013.[1] Nicolás Maduro—who had assumed the role of acting president since Chávez's death—was declared winner with a narrow victory over his opponent Henrique Capriles, the Governor of Miranda. Capriles had run in the previous election less than a year before, losing to Chávez by an 11-point margin. This time the margin of victory was much smaller (being 1.49%), and thus became the closest presidential election of the country since the 1968 election.

Capriles did not accept the results of the elections, claiming election irregularities.[2] Capriles initially called for an audit of the remaining 46% of votes, asserting that this would show that he had won the election. The election council agreed to carry out an audit, and planned to do so in May.[2][3] Capriles later asked a full audit of the electoral registry, with validation of all fingerprints and signatures in the records.[3] On 12 June 2013 National Electoral Council (CNE) announced that the audit had found no discrepancy with the initial results and confirmed Maduro's electoral victory.[4]

Maduro was sworn in as the new head of state on 19 April.[5] The Supreme Court of Justice denied Capriles' appeal on 7 August 2013.[6]

  1. ^ Venezuela announces post-Chavez election date BBC, 9 March 2013
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference BBC19April was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference BBC28April was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Venezuela audit confirms Nicolas Maduro electoral victory". BBC News. 12 June 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  5. ^ "Nicolas Maduro sworn in as new Venezuelan president". BBC News. 19 April 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  6. ^ "Venezuela top court rejects Capriles' election appeal". BBC News. 7 August 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2013.