At stake in this election:

• 167 seats in the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Hugo CHAVEZ Frias *
• Head of Government: President Hugo CHAVEZ Frias
• Assembly: Venezuela has a unicameral National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) with 167 seats.

* The president is both the chief of state and head of government. In 2009, a national referendum approved the elimination of term limits on all elected officials, including the presidency.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by plurality vote to serve a 6-year term.
• In the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional), 65 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms, 68 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms, 31 members are elected by plurality vote in multi-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms and 3 members are reserved for indigenous peoples to serve 5-year terms.***

*** Parties may nominate candidates for both the nominal and ordinal tiers.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: United Socialist Party of Venezuela / Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV)*
  • Leader: Hugo CHAVEZ FRIAS
  • Seats won in this election: 96
  • Seats won in last election: 139
• Party: Homeland for All / Patria Para Todos (PPT)
  • Leader: Jose ALBORNOZ
  • Seats won in this election: 2
  • Seats won in last election: 5
• Coalition: Democratic Unity Roundtable / Mesa de la Unidad Democratica (MUD)
  • Leader: Ramon Guilllermo AVELEDO
  • Seats won in this election: 64
  • Seats won in last election: 0

* The PSUV was created to unite the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) with other pro-Chávez parties,

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 28,995,745 (2010)
• Registered Voters: 17,458,473 (September 2010 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 14,521,816 (2010)

·         Is Venezuela a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Venezuela ratified CEDAW: Yes (2 May 1983)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: N/A

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 28 (following the 2010 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 71 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Venezuela a signatory to CRPD: No

·         Has Venezuela ratified CRPD: Yes, accession (24 September 2013)

·         Population with a disability: 4,349,361 (est.)