21N Elections: Venezuela's CNE Issues Preliminary Results for Governorships

On the night of Sunday, November 21, shortly before midnight, the president of Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE), Pedro Calzadilla, issued the first report of the results of yesterday’s regional and municipal elections.

The foremost CNE official defined the electoral process as an extraordinary and successful day in which popular sovereignty again prevailed.

Likewise, Calzadilla thanked voters, political parties, candidates, workers of the CNE, Plan República agents, and other state officials who made possible the successful rollout of this new electoral challenge.

#Ahora Autoridades del Poder Electoral ofrecen primer boletín de las #EleccionesRegionalesyMunicipales2021 pic.twitter.com/giIJ92mvaw
— cneesvenezuela (@cneesvzla) November 22, 2021

“The day passed in peace, without notable events that detracted from the vitality and strength of this electoral process,” said the president of the National Electoral Council as he presented the results with 91.21% of the data received. Calzadilla announced a turnout of 41.8% , equivalent to 8,151,793 voters, more than 10 points above the turnout for the parliamentary elections held in 2020, and a bit less than the turnout in the Chilean presidential race, also held this Sunday and reported at 47.1%.

New political landscape
The highest representative of the electoral authority pointed out that, although some data is still being awaited to complete the process, the high percentage of votes counted allows the CNE a good idea of what the final numbers will be in the coming hours.

Thus, he proceeded to announce the figures, which all but guarantee Chavismo’s victory for the governorship of 21 of 24 states, including the Capital District (Caracas), during an electoral event in which a total of more than 70,000 candidates from all political parties ran.

Calzadilla pointed out that for the mayor’s office of Caracas the people decided in favor of Carmen Meléndez, with 360,389 votes (58.9% of votes cast) amid voter participation of 36.3%. In second place was the opposition candidate Antonio Ecarri, with 95,045 votes for 15.5% of the total.

For his part, Luis José Marcano triumphed in Anzoátegui with 213,511 votes, or 46% of the total, and a turnout of 43.3%. He was followed by José Brito from the Primero Venezuela party with 132,733 votes, or 28.6% of the total.

Meanwhile, in Apure the victory went to Eduardo Piñate with 64,601 votes for 43.3% of the votes. In second place came Jean Luis Lipa from the MUD with 62,708 votes for a total of 42.1%. In the state of Aragua, with 36.6% voter participation, Karina Carpio of the PSUV won with 243,393 (51.6% of the vote) followed by Luis Martínez of Democratic Action with 95,117 votes, or 20% of the vote.

More figures
In Barinas, with a 45.5% stake, Argenis Chávez was reelected with 93,097 votes. In second place came Freddy Superlano of the MUD with 92,414 votes, or 36.8% of the total. In Bolívar state, where voter turnout was 36.4%, Ángel Marcano of the PSUV triumphed with 147,219 votes for 42.1% of the vote, followed by the opponent Raúl Yusef with 73,572 votes for 21% of the total.

In Carabobo, Rafael Lacava was reelected with a participation of 36.7% and 323,176 votes, equivalent to 54.9%. In second, Vicencio “Enzo” Scarano received 142,980 votes for 24.3%. In Cojedes, the MUD candidate José Galíndez won with 64,161 votes. In second place, for the PSUV, Nosliw Rodríguez received 49,023 votes for 37.7% of the total, amid a voter turnout of 54.2%.

Tras emitir el primer boletín de las #EleccionesRegionalesyMunicipales2021 el Consejo Nacional Electoral autoriza a las Juntas Regionales y Municipales a totalizar y adjudicar los cargos en disputa para esta elección. pic.twitter.com/fcI9BSZR7t
— cneesvenezuela (@cneesvzla) November 22, 2021

In Falcón, with 46.1% participation, the people re-elected Víctor Clark with 125,674 (43.4%). The opposition candidate Eliécer Sirik, from the MUD, came in second with 96,803 votes, 33.4%.

Likewise, in Guárico, Governor José Vásquez of the PSUV repeated with 97,725 votes for 47.1%, followed by Octavio Orta González from Democratic Action with 81,016 votes for 39%. In the case of Lara, with 41.5% participation, Adolfo Pereira of the PSUV won with 237,008 votes for 45.9% of the total. Henri Falcón of Progressive Advance followed with 214,564 votes for 41.6%.

As for Mérida, the victory went to Jehyson Guzmán, with 106,645 votes, or 40.4%, while Ramón Guevara of the MUD obtained 89,826 votes for 34.1%. In Miranda Governor Héctor Rodríguez Castro repeated with 396,192 votes for 48.2%, while second place will go to David Uzcátegui with 335,508 votes and 40.8%.

Other regions: Monagas, Nueva Esparta, Portuguesa, Sucre, Táchira, Trujillo, Yaracuy, Zulia
The result in Monagas state was in favor of the Chavista candidate Ernesto Luna, with 141,033 votes for 45.6%, followed by Piero Maroum with 125,793 votes for 40.7%. In Nueva Esparta the victory went to the opposition candidate Morel Rodríguez from Fuerza Vecinal, with 81,698 votes for 42.6% of the total. Dante Rivas of the PSUV was defeated with 75,293 votes for 39.2%.

Regarding the state of Portuguesa, the result favored the PSUV candidate, Primitivo Cedeño, with 127,766 votes and 45.8% of the total, defeating challenger María Beatriz Martínez, of the MUD, who received 56,015 votes, or 20.1%. Similarly, in Sucre with 48.4% voter participation, Gilberto Pinto Blanco of the PSUV won, with 139,584 votes for 46.7%. Second was Ramón Martínez of the MAS, with 93,563 votes for 21.3%.

For his part, in Táchira, Freddy Bernal Rosales won with 136,779 votes, or 41% of votes cast. Laidy Gómez who obtained 40.2% of votes, was defeated. Likewise, in Trujillo, Gerardo Márquez from the PSUV triumphed with 101,136 votes (41.5%) and Carlos González from the MUD came in second with 68,848 votes (28.2%).

In Yaracuy, Julio León Heredia won with 98,992 votes (45.9%), while Biagio Pilieri of the MUD received 68,317 votes (31.7%). In Zulia the government passed to the MUD candidate, Manuel Rosales with 505,059 votes (56.9%), while PSUV Omar Prieto was defeated obtaining only 319,864 votes (36%).

Amazonas, Delta Amacuro, La Guaira
Finally, in Amazonas Miguel Rodríguez of the PSUV won, with 16,591 votes (40.2%) over Maulinmer Baloa of the MUD (26.1%). In Delta Amacuro, Lizeta Hernández won with 32,497 votes (60%). In second place, Felipe Gómez Rodríguez from El Cambio received with 24%.

In the state of La Guaira the victory went to José Alejandro Terán of the PSUV, who defeated the candidate of the MUD, José Manuel Olivares, by obtaining 76,681 votes for 50.1%.

Rector Calzadilla stated that, with this data from the first report, with 90.2% of results transmitted, the National Electoral Council (CNE) authorizes the regional and municipal boards to tabulate and proclaim the respective positions.

Quick analysis with limited numbers
With the preliminary data provided by the CNE some analysts made several remarks:

• Chavismo recuperated two very important governorships, Anzoategui and Tachira.
• Chavismo lost the important state of Zulia.
• An extremely divided opposition would likely have captured a few more governorships if they had presented unified candidates. Victories in the states of Apure, Bolivar, Barinas, Lara, Miranda, and Tachira may have been possible. This analysis is made without yet having the complete numbers for those who finished in third and fourth place, but is based on those states with slim margins of victory for Chavismo, or with a high percentages of voters who did not vote for the first and second place candidates.
• In 2017’s regional elections the opposition won five governorships—although it lost Zulia a few weeks later—and this time it only managed to win three.

It will be important to see the electoral landscape for mayoralties, in order to compare the results with the 2018 municipal elections, in which 326 of 335 municipalities went into the hands of Chavismo. It is important to highlight that those 2018 elections were boycotted by the major opposition parties.

Featured image: CNE President, Pedro Calzadilla, accompanied by the four rectors of Venezuela’s electoral authority, reads the first report with the elections results. Photo: CNE

(RedRadioVE) by José Manuel Blanco Díaz, with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JRE/SL