Poll open in Venezuela's constitutional referendum

[Judi Lynn]

Poll open in Venezuela's constitutional referendum
26 mins ago

CARACAS (AFP) – Polls opened in Venezuela early Sunday as voters began casting ballots in a referendum on constitutional changes, which would allow President Hugo Chavez to seek re-election without limits.

More than 16 million Venezuelans are eligible to take part in what is expected to be a tightly-fought battle in the increasingly polarized country.

Chavez, popular with the country's poor for health and education programs and blamed by a vocal opposition for rising crime, corruption and inflation, recently celebrated 10 years in power.

He was first elected to his post in 1998 and reelected in 2006.

Undecided voters will play a key role in the vote on scrapping electoral term limits, pollsters said at the end of the campaign, with Chavez showing a slight lead among those who had already decided.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090215/ts_afp/venezuelaeuropediplomacyspain

[EFerrari]

1. It cracks me up that the crass idiot from Spain criticized the fact

that voting hours were extended so more people could vote. How undemocratic of him!

It seems as though this will be close. Buena suerte, Venezuela!

[Peace Patriot]

2. "...would allow President Hugo Chavez to seek re-election without limits." Ah, me!

This is such a lie! It would allow Chavez to run for a third term--like our own FDR did--and be voted into office again by the people of Venezuela.

The referendum also would lift term limits on all other offices (national legislature, governors, mayors).

And, gee, Venezuelans get to vote on this. We don't. Our term limit on the president was rammed through Congress by the Republicans in the mid-1950s, to prevent a "New Deal" ever happening in the U.S. again, and to begin to dismantle the one that FDR put in place, for which he needed four terms in office.

Venezuelans also get to vote in the security of knowing that they have one of the best, most highly praised, most transparent and aboveboard election system in the world. We don't have that security here--we have one of the least transparent voting systems on earth, run on 'TRADE SECRET' code, owned and controlled by rightwing Bushite corporations.

They also can recall their president. We can't.

This AFP article seems to be uninformed about the latest polls. "Yes" has been gaining strength over the last few weeks, and most polls (even opposition polls) give it a 3% to 5% edge as of yesterday.