Recall referendum.2C 2004 Súmate

a rally in favor of 2004 venezuelan referendum recall hugo chávez in capital, caracas.

in 2003, súmate organized campaign force recall referendum revoking remainder of term in office of president chávez, provided under article 72 of constitution of venezuela, permits citizens request recall if signatures collected 20% of electorate.

the recall vote held on 15 august 2004. record number of voters turned out recall defeated 59% no vote. carter center concluded results accurate, european union observers did not oversee referendum, saying many restrictions put on participation government.

an exit poll company penn, schoen & berland associates (psb) predicted chávez lose 20%, whereas election results showed him have won 20%. schoen commented, think massive fraud . psb used súmate personnel fieldworkers. publication or broadcast of exit polls banned electoral authorities, results of psb poll went out media outlets , opposition offices several hours before polls closed. jimmy carter said súmate deliberately distributed erroneous exit poll data in order build up, not expectation of victory, influence people still standing in line .

following recall vote, súmate requested ricardo hausmann of harvard university , roberto rigobón of mit perform statistical analysis analyzing how fraud have occurred during referendum. concluded vote samples audited government not random representation of precincts , opposition witnesses , international observers not allowed near computer hub on election day. cepr, left-leaning think tank based in washington, reports other economists have called harvard/mit assumptions how alleged fraud conducted unlikely.