Why does Nicolas Maduro appear 13 times on the ballot in Venezuela’s presidential election?

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — His smile is confident, his hair is neatly combed and his eyes are slightly narrowed: the first candidate you’ll likely see in Voting in the upcoming presidential elections in Venezuela Elections are Nicolas Madurothe current candidate who is seeking re-election.

In contrast to some of his nine rivals, Maduro appears not once, not twice, but 13 times on the ballot — and is sure to catch voters’ attention.

Each time, it is for one of the many political groups he represents in the long-awaited presidential election on July 28. Maduro occupies the entire first of the four rows on the ballot, while pictures of the other candidates are dotted around, including that of former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia, the only contender with a real chance of denying the president a third term.

However, the sheer number of images of Maduro appearing on the ballot paper belies the gravity of the moment.

Venezuela faces its toughest electoral test in decades. The outcome could give Maduro another six years in power or spell the end of the socialist policies that once succeeded in promoting anti-poverty programs but whose persistent mismanagement has since plunged the country into a prolonged economic crisis.

Venezuela’s electoral rules allow for as many candidates’ photos on ballots — electronic inside Venezuela and printed for voters abroad — as there are parties supporting them. This year, the ballot contained 38 photos, each with the name of the candidate and his party.

Veteran Venezuelan voters are also used to seeing many of the candidates on the touch screens used in the South American country’s elections.

But for some, this large number of images can be confusing.

“I feel dizzy when I see Maduro so many times on that ticket, but I know the danger lies in the candidates who do not represent us,” said Sonia Guevara, a 38-year-old civil servant, referring to some opposition candidates seen as close to the government.

An example is the case of Luis Martinez, the candidate of the Democratic Action Party (AD) – a traditional opposition group whose leadership was suspended months ago by the pro-Maduro Supreme Court.

Martinez decided not to support Gonzalez, a contender for the Unified Opposition Platform Coalition.

“It’s confusing. I’ve had to explain to my mother several times that the candidate on the ticket is not always the one she votes for,” Guevara said. “My mother is 71 years old, and I’m asking her not to vote for the candidate this time.”

Gonzalez appears three times on the ballot, while Martinez, considered a government ally, appears six times.

An estimated 17 million voters are eligible to vote ahead of this month’s elections. Another 4 million Venezuelans living abroad are registered to vote, but only about 69,000 Venezuelans have met the government’s requirements to cast their ballots abroad. Costly and time-consuming government requirements for registration, lack of information, and the mandatory proof of legal residency in a host country have prevented many migrants from registering to vote.

Francisco Maldonado, a 50-year-old merchant in Caracas, is ready to vote.

“At this point, I think we all know who we’re going to vote for, but more than ever we have to be careful, just as careful as we are when we use an ATM,” Maldonado said. “We can’t make a mistake when we’re marking.”

The exact population of Venezuela remains unclear as the last census in the South American country was conducted in 2011. At that time, the census concluded that the population was 27.2 million – but since the country’s political, economic and social crisis over the past decade, more than 7.7 million people have left the country.

Even if it is common for a candidate’s face to appear on a ballot, having it appear 13 times makes Maduro “the easiest to visually identify,” said Laura Dib, Venezuela program director at WOLA, a Washington-based nongovernmental organization focused on human rights in the Americas.

The opposition faction supporting Gonzalez does not have access to Venezuela’s official media, and “the opposition is finding it more difficult to educate voters on how to vote,” Deeb added.

She noted other confusing issues, with some parties using the same colors on ballots as pro-Maduro parties. A candidate from an opposition faction was also allowed to use the same color as the main opposition candidate group.

“This also creates confusion and violates the rules of the National Electoral Council,” Depp added, referring to the Spanish acronym for the National Electoral Council.

In addition, the electoral law allows parties to replace candidates ten days before election day, although this change may not be reflected on ballot papers, which have already been programmed on electronic machines or printed for overseas voting.

If people vote for a candidate who has been replaced, “those votes will be invalid,” Deeb added.

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Associated Press writer E. Eduardo Castillo in Mexico City contributed to this report.

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