Why Nicolás Maduro appears 13 times on the ballot for Venezuela’s presidential election
Maduro appears 13 times on the ballot for each of the several political groups he is representing, confusing voters ahead of the presidential election.
His smile is confident, his hair well-combed and his eyes are squinting slightly: The first candidate you’ll likely see on the ballot in Venezuela’s upcoming presidential election is Nicolás Maduro, the incumbent seeking reelection.
Unlike some of his nine challengers, Maduro shows up not once or twice, but a whopping 13 times on the ballot — and he’s certain to catch the voters’ attention.
Each time, it’s for one of the several political groups he is representing in the highly anticipated July 28 presidential election. Maduro takes up the entire first of the ballot’s four rows while the rest of the candidates’ photos are sprinkled here and there, including that of former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia, the only contender with real chances of denying the president a third term.
Still, the sheer number of Maduro’s images appearing on the ballot belies the seriousness of the moment.
Venezuela faces its toughest electoral test in decades. The outcome could give Maduro another six years in power or end the self-described socialist’s policies that once successfully boosted anti-poverty programs but whose sustained mismanagement later pushed the country into an ongoing economic crisis.
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