Today, the Venezuelan electorate chooses its first president not named Hugo Chavez since 1999. Via the BBC: Venezuelans vote to choose Hugo Chavez successor:
Acting President Nicolas Maduro, chosen by Mr Chavez as his successor, is running against Henrique Capriles, currently governor of Miranda state.
Mr Capriles narrowly lost to Mr Chavez in elections last October.
Odds are quite high the Maduro will win.
There are seven total candidates in the race (list here). A copy of the ballot can be found here (note that Maduro is the nominee of multiple parties).
Voting is electronic in Venezuela (process here):
Voting is electronic – one machine will identify voters’ fingerprints, and a second will recognise identity card numbers and register the vote anonymously.
Polls opened at 06:30 local time (11:00 GMT) and will close 10 hours later, although they will stay open until all those queuing at closing time have voted.
Official results are expected about three hours after the polls close.
