This article was originally posted by The American
If the polls are reliable, it seems that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez will be tested on September 26. For the defenders of Venezuelan democracy, the test will come the morning after.
Public opinion polls leading up to September 26 elections in Venezuela show that leftist President Hugo Chávez may have to resort to blatant fraud in order to deny the democratic opposition substantial gains in the national assembly. Presidential palace insiders are so panicked by recent polls that they have muzzled Chávez, lest his incendiary rhetoric energize the growing opposition vote. His closest advisors are scrambling to be able to blame their bombastic leader for bad news on election day. The very public death Tuesday of hunger striker Franklin Brito, a 49-year-old farmer protesting the regime’s expropriation of his family’s land, will do even more to rally the opposition and put Chávez on the defensive.
Chávez has stacked the deck against the opposition—denying them fair access to the media, using state resources to fund official candidates, and imposing a formula that gives disproportionate representation to states where he is strongest. Despite these unfair advantages, recent polls suggest that the regime will have to resort to brazen manipulation to undercount opposition votes and to steal assembly seats.