CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM BY THE NUMBERS

UNCLAS CARACAS 002259 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD DEPARTMENT PASS TO AID/OTI (RPORTER) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM VE SUBJECT: CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM BY THE NUMBERS (SBU) The following are some useful background statistics related to Venezuela's December 2 referendum on President Chavez's proposed, sweeping changes to 69 articles of the 1999 Constitution: The Referendum -------------- Number of blocks of articles on the ballot: 2 Number of articles contained in block one: 46 Number of articles contained in block two: 23 Number of articles Chavez originally proposed changing: 33 Total number of articles on the ballot: 69 Total number of articles in the 1999 Constitution: 350 Groups officially registered with the "No" camp: 16 Groups officially registered with the "Yes" camp: 19 Election Day -------------- Polls Open in Morning: 6:00 (5:00 EST) Polls Close in the Afternoon: 4:00 (3:00 EST) (unless people are still in line; in recent elections polls frequently were left open even with no one in line) Electronic Voting Machines: 34,200 Polling Stations in Venezuela: 11,007 Polling Stations in Embassies/Consulates Abroad: 125 Percentage of stations using electronic voting machines: 99 Number of registered Venezuelan voters: 16,251,555 Number of Venezuelan states: 23 Number of opposition state governors: 2 Number of pro-Chavez governors advocating "No": 2 Election Monitoring -------------- OAS Observers: 0 EU Observers: 0 "Yes" Camp's alloted international observers 15 "No" Camp's alotted international observers: 15 Number of international observers invited by CNE: Up to 120 Machinary audits conducted with "Yes" and "No" blocks: 8 Number of independent audits of the voter rolls: 0 Embassy personnel involved in election monitoring: 50 Local results electoral NGO Ojo Electoral will audit: 400 Local results eletoral NGO Sumate will audit: 1200 Number of journalists accredited to cover referendum: 3000 Number of National Electoral Council (CNE) Rectors: 5 Number of CNE Rectors Widely Considered Independent: 1 Recent History -------------- Number of national elections Chavez has lost: 0 Number of consecutive Chavez national election victories: 7 Percentage of vote Chavez won in 2006: 63% Percentage of vote Chavez won in the 2004 recall referendum: 59% Percentage of vote Chavez won in 2000: 60% Percentage of vote Chavez won in 1998: 56% Rate of abstention in 2006 presidential race: 25% Rate of absetention in 2005 parliamentary elections: 75% (opposition boycotted) Rate of absention in 2004 recall referendum: 30% Rate of abstention in 1999 constitutional referendum: 55% DUDDY