If Venezuelans went to the polls today, more people would vote for Henrique Capriles Radonski than for current President Hugo Chavez, a poll conducted by Sevi Mercado revealed yesterday.
Despite Chavez’s recent joke about the possibility that the opposition will make a come back and govern the country – saying it will happen the day the famous fictional character Tarzan appears in Caracas main square along with his ape mate – the poll shows that he is still two points behind his main electoral contender, who is favoured by 36% of the population.
Voters’ turnout is also expected to hit a record high at the next round of elections, scheduled for October 7th. “A lot of Venezuelan people feared to respond in the poll, but will hit the streets to vote,” said Luis Garcia Planchard, director of Servi Mercado.
The research carried out by Sevi Mercado asked whom voters would prefer “if the election were held tomorrow.”
Many Venezuelan commentators have been struck by how close the margin is between the two candidates.
The so-called anti-Chavez candidate secured 36.67% approval rating, against Chavez’s 34%. A quarter of the interviewees said they are still undecided, while 21% preferred not to answer. However, the Venezuelan president is in the lead in other polling institutions, according to Infobae.
Garcia Planchard said to News 24 that the survey was conducted on 1,350 people from different regions of the country. He said that the poll has a margin of error of 2.67% – exactly the same gap between the governor of Miranda, Radonski, and Chavez.
“It is important to know that within this scenario, and compared with other surveys, the results are very similar,” Garcia Planchard said. “This is a draw by any means.”
According to Planchard, the gender factor will play a decisive role, as Venezuelan women are more likely to vote for Capriles Radonski than President Chavez.
