Fast Facts about Venezuela's December 6 Elections

Which seats are up for election?On December 6, Venezuelans will elect all 167 deputies to five-year terms in the country’s unicameral National Assembly. Per the polls, opposition parties stand to wrest away a majority from the chavista ruling party for the first time since it came to power 15 years ago. Working in the opposition’s favor is high public dissatisfaction with President Nicolás Maduro’s administration amid an economic crisis. The country has a mixed proportional voting process. Voters select about two-thirds (113) of deputies directly to represent the country’s 87 districts. Of these, 66 districts are represented by one deputy, 16 by two, and five by three. Candidates running on party lists will fill an additional 51 seats, allocated based on the winning party’s margin of victory over opponents. Three more deputies will be elected from indigenous groups. More...