1978 Venezuelan general election

General elections were held in Venezuela on 3 December 1978.[1] The presidential elections were won by Luis Herrera Campins of Copei, who received 46.6% of the vote.[2] Although Copei received more votes, Democratic Action won the most seats in the Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies, whilst the two parties won 21 seats each in the Venezuelan Senate. Voter turnout was 87.6%.[3]

Venezuelan presidential election, 1978

3 December 1978
Turnout	87.6%
Nominee Luis Herrera Campins Luis Piñerúa Ordaz José Rangel Party COPEI Democratic Action MAS Home state Lara Monagas Caracas Popular vote 2,487,318 2,309,577 276,083 Percentage 46.6% 43.3% 5.18%
President before election Carlos Andrés Pérez Democratic Action Elected President Luis Herrera Campins COPEI

Results

President

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Luis Herrera Campins	Copei-URD-FDP-OPINA	2,487,318	46.6
Luis Piñerúa Ordaz	Democratic Action	2,309,577	43.3
José Vicente Rangel	MAS-VUC	276,083	5.2
Diego Arria	Common Cause-MDT	90,060	1.7
Luis Beltrán Prieto Figueroa	People's Electoral Movement	59,747	1.2
Américo Martín	Revolutionary Left Movement	52,287	1.0
Héctor Mujica	Communist Party of Venezuela	29,305	0.5
Leonardo Montiel Ortega	National Renewal Movement	13,918	0.3
Alejandro Gómez	Nationalist Unity Front	8,337	0.2
Pablo Salas Castillo	Nationalist Civic Crusade	6,081	0.1
Invalid/blank votes		116,888	–
Total		5,449,601	100
Source: Nohlen

Congress

Party	Votes	%	Seats
			Chamber	+/-	Senate	+/-
Copei	2,103,004	39.8	84	+20	21	+8
Democratic Action	2,096,512	39.7	88	-14	21	-7
Movement for Socialism	325,328	6.2	11	+2	2	0
Revolutionary Left Movement	123,915	2.3	4	+3	0	0
People's Electoral Movement	117,455	2.2	4	-4	0	-2
Democratic Republican Union	88,807	1.7	3	-2	0	-1
Common Cause	85,432	1.6	1	New	0	New
National Integration Movement	83,700	1.6	1	New	0	New
Communist Party of Venezuela	55,168	1.0	1	-1	0	0
Communist Unitarian Vanguard	46,547	0.9	1	New	0	New
Socialist League	30,191	0.6	1	New	0	New
National Renewal Movement	26,235	0.5	0	New	0	New
Labour Movement	22,966	0.4	0	New	0	New
Popular Democratic Front	13,697	0.3	0	0	0	0
Nationalist Unity Front	12,986	0.2	0	0	0	0
Radical Cause	12,573	0.2	0	New	0	New
Nationalist Civic Crusade	10,906	0.2	0	-7	0	-1
Revolutionary Action Group	9,034	0.2	0	New	0	New
National Opinion	7,961	0.2	0	-1	0	0
Independents for Community Development	6,719	0.1	0	New	0	New
Other parties	3,753	0.1	0	–	0	–
Invalid/blank votes	166,901	–	–	–	–	–
Total	5,449,790	100	199	-1	44	-3
Source: Nohlen

Popular vote COPEI   39.81% AD   39.68% MAS   6.16% MIR   2.35% MEP   2.22% URD   1.68% CC   1.62% MIN   1.58% PCV   1.04% Others   3.85%

Seats (Chamber) AD   44.22% COPEI   42.21% MAS   5.53% MIR   2.01% MEP   2.01% URD   1.51% CC   0.50% MIN   0.50% PCV   0.50% Others   1.01%

References

1. Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II, p555 ISBN 978-0-19-928358-3
2. Nohlen, p581
3. Nohlen, p556