Venezuelan presidential election, 2006
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| Turnout | 74.69% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Results by state. Red indicates states carried by Chávez. Darker shades indicate higher percentage.
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The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela held presidential elections on 3 December 2006, to choose a president for the six-year term to begin on 10 January 2007. The contest was between incumbent President Hugo Chávez, and Zulia Governor Manuel Rosales of the opposition party UNT.
After handily winning a recall referendum in 2004, President Chávez positioned himself for re-election in 2006 for a second full term. The opposition did not hold a primary, instead, the candidates reached a consensus into backing the governor of the largest state (Zulia), Manuel Rosales. Chávez benefited from a high popularity, and led most opinion polls throughout the campaign. He went to win re-election by the widest margin by percentage of the popular vote since the 1947 election; and by the largest margin of votes cast in the history of Venezuela. Chávez would eventually win another term 6 years later, before dying only a month into that term.
Four organisations were given permission to send official election observers to monitor the elections: Carter Center,European Union,Mercosur and Organization of American States.
A fifth organisation was refused permission: Cortes Generales (Spanish parliament).
Civil society organization Súmate recommended procedures for a primary, to be held on 13 August 2006, to choose the opposition candidate for the December 2006 presidential elections.Teodoro Petkoff, a Chávez critic, said that Súmate's procedure was authoritarian, comparing it to the Carmona Decree. Nine other candidates agreed to the terms for holding a primary, confirming their desire to allow the citizens to choose the opposition candidate. Another candidate condemned Petkoff's remarks against Súmate, saying that Petkoff's statements did not help the country, and explaining that the conditions for holding a primary had been previously discussed between all of the candidates, including Petkoff. On 9 August, Súmate announced that the 13 August primary election would not be held, since the candidates had decided to back Manuel Rosales as the single opposition candidate. Machado said that the primary "initiative accomplished its goal and that Súmate would continue working to ensure clean elections and respect for citizens' rights".
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