1968 Venezuelan general election
# 1968 Venezuelan general election

General elections were held in Venezuela on 1 December 1968. The presidential election was won by Rafael Caldera of Copei, who received 29.1% of the vote. Acción Democrática (Democratic Action, AD) remained the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate. Voter turnout was 96.7% in the presidential election and 94.5% in the Congressional elections. When Caldera took office in March 1969, it marked the first time in Venezuela's history as an independent nation that the sitting government peacefully transferred power to an elected member of the opposition.

## Background

The election was shaped by a split in AD. Luis Beltrán Prieto Figueroa, then President of the Venezuelan Senate and President of AD, won the AD primary election (held in 1967). His nomination was overturned in favor of Gonzalo Barrios by the Rómulo Betancourt faction of AD, which considered Prieto Figueroa too left-wing. Prieto Figueroa and a substantial number of his supporters then split from AD and formed a new party: the People's Electoral Movement ("Movimiento Electoral del Pueblo" - MEP). Ultimately, Prieto finished fourth, but his 719,000 votes far exceeded the 32,900-vote gap between Caldera and Barrios.

## Results

### President

| Candidate | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Rafael Caldera | Copei–MDI | 1,083,712 | 29.13 |
| | Gonzalo Barrios | AD–API–AIR–OPIR | 1,050,806 | 28.24 |
| | Miguel Ángel Burelli Rivas | URD–FDP–FND–MENI | 826,758 | 22.22 |
| | Luis Beltrán Prieto Figueroa | MEP–PRIN–OPINA | 719,461 | 19.34 |
| | Alejandro Hernández | Democratic Socialist Party | 27,336 | 0.73 |
| | Germán Borregales | National Action Movement | 12,587 | 0.34 |
| Total | Total | Total | 3,720,660 | 100.00 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 3,720,660 | 93.03 |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 278,957 | 6.97 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 3,999,617 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 4,134,928 | 96.73 |
| Source: Nohlen |||||

### Congress

Seats :

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Chamber | +/– | Senate | +/– |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Democratic Action | 939,759 | 25.55 | 66 | 0 | 19 | –3 |
| | Copei | 883,814 | 24.03 | 59 | +20 | 16 | +8 |
| | People's Electoral Movement | 475,909 | 12.94 | 25 | New | 5 | New |
| | Nationalist Civic Crusade | 402,351 | 10.94 | 21 | New | 4 | New |
| | Democratic Republican Union | 340,195 | 9.25 | 18 | –11 | 3 | –4 |
| | Popular Democratic Front | 194,931 | 5.30 | 10 | –6 | 2 | –2 |
| | Union for Progress | 103,591 | 2.82 | 5 | New | 1 | New |
| | Democratic National Front | 96,027 | 2.61 | 4 | New | 1 | New |
| | Revolutionary Party of Nationalist Integration | 88,509 | 2.41 | 4 | New | 1 | New |
| | Democratic Socialist Party | 29,920 | 0.81 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | National Action Movement | 24,407 | 0.66 | 1 | +1 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independent Democratic Movement | 18,337 | 0.50 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| | Independent Popular Alliance | 18,332 | 0.50 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| | Independent National Electoral Movement | 13,847 | 0.38 | 0 | –1 | 0 | 0 |
| | Revolutionary Independent Action | 9,154 | 0.25 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| | National Opinion | 7,339 | 0.20 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
| | 18 other parties | 31,662 | 0.86 | 0 | – | 0 | – |
| Total | Total | 3,678,084 | 100.00 | 214 | +35 | 52 | +5 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 3,678,084 | 94.12 | | | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 229,739 | 5.88 | | | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 3,907,823 | 100.00 | | | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 4,134,928 | 94.51 | | | | |
| Source: Nohlen ||||||||
