# 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.

## Background

The elections were for all popularly elected positions at different levels of government, which numbered more than six thousand. 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. However, in spite of these problems and with the traditional political parties weakened, Chavez's reelection was imminent.
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. Arias Cárdenas called his supporters to gather in front of the CNE to protest, but they were repelled by a group of Chavistas.

## 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. Chávez responded by criticizing his former colleagues, whom he reproached for "not having washed the rags at home".
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. Miquilena's response was to qualify as "trash" those who abandoned Chávez to support Arias Cárdenas. 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.

## 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.

## Results
### President

| Candidate | 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 | Total | Total | 6,288,578 | 100.00 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 6,288,578 | 94.75 |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 348,698 | 5.25 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 6,637,276 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 11,720,660 | 56.63 |
| Source: CNE |||||

### National Assembly

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 | Indigenous representatives | | | 3 |
| Total | Total | 4,457,296 | 100.00 | 165 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 4,457,296 | 67.96 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 2,101,850 | 32.04 | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 6,559,146 | 100.00 | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 11,705,702 | 56.03 | |
| Source: CNE, CNE |||||