1:20 AM
Fireworks in San Felipe. Chavez on cadena!!!
1:17
Tibisay Lucena head of the CNE has announced that the NO has won!!!!! Less than 2% margin!!!
Congratulations Venezuela!!!!!
[UPDATES BELOW]
We're still following this story as it develops, right now al Jazeera is saying Chavez has won, but Venezualan bloggers are reporting otherwise.
Chavez wins Venezuela vote: sources
By Saul Hudson and Ana Isabel Martinez
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez appeared headed for victory on Sunday in a referendum on allowing the leftist to rule for as long as he keeps winning elections, government-linked sources said, citing exit polls.
Three exit polls showed the anti-American leader won by between six and eight percentage points in a vote where turnout was low, the two sources said.
If his victory is confirmed, the referendum vote on a raft of reforms would allow Chavez -- in office since 1999 -- to run for reelection indefinitely, control foreign currency reserves, appoint loyalists over regional elected officials and censor the media if he declares an emergency.
Chavez has said he wants to rule for life and turn the major oil exporter into a socialist state.
The opposition was skeptical of the government sources' exit poll data.
From Venezuela News And Views:
The election day post: the doomsday vote
20:24
Baduel just spoke and implied that they are getting ready to do an announcement that the government will not like.
The mess is growing.
20:10
My NO contact (a serious one, I can assure the readers that) wrote me to let me know me that the NO won but the government will announce a SI victory. Chavez has announced that he will call for a press conference for right after the CNE result. The NO camp denounces the Reuters brief which cites only government sources as their basis for the SI victory.
It is quickly becoming a mess.
However there is one thing we can be absolutely sure, all the leaks that went to Reuters will not be investigated and even less punished by the CNE tomorrow, you can be assured to that.
From Salon:
6:37 PM Government saying Yes won by 6-8%, Comando del No saying No won by 4%
8:03 PM Two sources saying abstention is around 44-45% (one is Italy's La Repubblica). If this is true, then things have to be close.
8:09 PM From a good source, the Government withdrew its advertising from tomorrow's paper celebrating the victory
For now, it still seems to be up in the air as to what the actual outcome will be.
Updates will be available as more information comes through.
[UPDATE, 17:15]
In related news on the other side of the world, Russian President Vladamir Putin has won a majority vote in his bid for retaining power in Russia:
Putin wins majority in election
By Michael Stott
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin won a big endorsement in a parliamentary election on Sunday but the United States urged Moscow to investigate opposition charges of widespread fraud.
First official results showed Putin's United Russia with over 60 percent of the vote -- an outcome likely to be seen by the Kremlin as a strong mandate for Putin to maintain a position of influence after his final presidential term ends next year.
"The overwhelming majority of Russian voters spoke in favor of United Russia, thus supporting President Putin's course, and spoke in favor of it being continued after the current president's second term ends," a Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told Reuters after early results came in.
Election monitors reported widespread cases of ballot fraud, and the Communist Party, which is likely to be the biggest opposition force in the next parliament, said it would contest the election in the courts.
[UPDATE, 19:20]
Government ministers say Chavez wins Venezuela vote
CARACAS (Reuters) - Three cabinet ministers on Sunday said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez won a referendum on whether he can run indefinitely for reelection.
The ministers, who asked not to be named, cited preliminary polling and electoral data.
From Venezuela News And Views:
The election day post: the doomsday vote
21:05
1) Serious source tells me Chavez canceled his press conference.
2)Jorge Rodriguez on TV, with bags under eyes dropping to his knees, calling to all to keep the piece and recognizing that the election is close!!!!
20:53
This blog owner being very conservative in his predictions will not dare to emit his own opinion until he is pretty sure. However he has no problem passing along more adventurous blogs that sound strangely up to date and also who give regional results. I love regional results (sorry, Spanish). Hat tip Moses.
20:46
In the weird news series, Miguel tells us that the government has withdrawn its celebratory advertisement scheduled for tomorrow's newspapers.
20:35
The more I think about it the weirder that press conference that Chavez called for. I mean, in the past he could not care less, went to his "balcon del pueblo" and started a peroration for hours in front of his adoring crowd. What is different this time?
From Salon
8:03 PM Two sources saying abstention is around 44-45% (one is Italy's La Repubblica). If this is true, then things have to be close.
8:09 PM From a good source, the Government withdrew its advertising from tomorrow's paper celebrating the victory
8:32 PM Mood shifting towards No win
[UPDATE 21:00]
It's still a tight race in Venezuela tonight.
From Reuters:
Chavez leads tight vote, say officials
By Saul Hudson and Ana Isabel Martinez
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez appeared headed for a narrow win on Sunday in a referendum on scrapping term limits on his rule, government officials said, but opposition leaders said the vote was too close to call.
Exit polls and early counts by party members showed the race tightening with the anti-U.S. leader ahead by as little as four percentage points, senior government officials said. Three ministers who asked not to be named earlier said the margin was between six and eight points.
Vice President Jorge Rodriguez told reporters the vote was "close." Opposition politicians also said the outcome was tight and questioned the government's data that put Chavez ahead.
"They are trying to create rumors to present themselves as winners, as victors," Andres Velasquez, an opposition leader said. "We want to deny it categorically, emphatically."
If approved, the referendum vote on a raft of reforms would allow Chavez -- in office since 1999 -- to run for reelection indefinitely, control foreign currency reserves, appoint loyalists over regional elected officials and censor the media if he declares an emergency.
Chavez has said he wants to rule for life and turn the major oil exporter into a socialist state.
From Venezuela News And Views:
The election day post: the doomsday vote
21:59
Still nothing official. But my SMS box is full of junk. Meanwhile the NO headquarters are loudly implying their victory. It does seem that the NO won but the CNE and the government are figuring out how to present it. One thing is certain: if the SI had won convincingly, AND honestly, we would already know. One thing we can thus advance in all certitude: if the SI won, it is by the narrowest of margins.
The delay of the CNE is simply scandalous at this point!
From Salon:
9:39 PM Both BBC Mundo and El Pais have shifted from Si wins, to "close". I hear is not even close.
10:39 PM No results yet at this time, whatever happened to the best and most expensive voting system in the world?
