1978 Venezuelan general election

General elections were held in Venezuela on 3 December 1978.^[1] The presidential elections were won by Luis Herrera Campins of Copei, who received 47% of the vote.^[2] Although Copei received more votes, Democratic Action won the most seats in the Chamber of Deputies, whilst the two parties won 21 seats each in the Senate. Voter turnout was 88%.^[3]

1978 Venezuelan general election

← 1973 3 December 1978 1983 →
Presidential election
Turnout	87.56%
Nominee Luis Herrera Campins Luis Piñerúa Ordaz José Vicente Rangel Party Copei Democratic Action MAS Popular vote 2,487,318 2,309,577 276,083 Percentage 46.64% 43.31% 5.18%
President before election Carlos Andrés Pérez Democratic Action Elected President Luis Herrera Campins Copei

Results

President

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Luis Herrera Campins	Copei–URD–FDP [es]–OPINA [es]	2,487,318	46.64
	Luis Piñerúa Ordaz	Democratic Action	2,309,577	43.31
	José Vicente Rangel	MAS–VUC	276,083	5.18
	Diego Arria	Common Cause–MDT	90,060	1.69
	Luis Beltrán Prieto Figueroa	People's Electoral Movement	59,747	1.12
	Américo Martín	Revolutionary Left Movement	52,287	0.98
	Héctor Mujica [es]	Communist Party of Venezuela	29,305	0.55
	Leonardo Montiel Ortega	National Renewal Movement	13,918	0.26
	Alejandro Gómez	Nationalist Unity Front	8,337	0.16
	Pablo Salas Castillo	Nationalist Civic Crusade	6,081	0.11
Total			5,332,713	100.00
Valid votes			5,332,713	97.86
Invalid/blank votes			116,888	2.14
Total votes			5,449,601	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			6,223,903	87.56
Source: Nohlen

Congress

Party		Votes	%	Seats
				Chamber	+/–	Senate	+/–
	Copei	2,103,004	39.81	84	+20	21	+8
	Democratic Action	2,096,512	39.68	88	–14	21	–7
	Movement for Socialism	325,328	6.16	11	+2	2	0
	Revolutionary Left Movement	123,915	2.35	4	+3	0	0
	People's Electoral Movement	117,455	2.22	4	–4	0	–2
	Democratic Republican Union	88,807	1.68	3	–2	0	–1
	Common Cause	85,432	1.62	1	New	0	New
	National Integration Movement [es]	83,700	1.58	1	New	0	New
	Communist Party of Venezuela	55,168	1.04	1	–1	0	0
	Communist Unitarian Vanguard	46,547	0.88	1	New	0	New
	Socialist League	30,191	0.57	1	New	0	New
	National Renewal Movement	26,235	0.50	0	New	0	New
	Labour Movement	22,966	0.43	0	New	0	New
	Popular Democratic Front [es]	13,697	0.26	0	0	0	0
	Nationalist Unity Front	12,986	0.25	0	0	0	0
	Radical Cause	12,573	0.24	0	New	0	New
	Nationalist Civic Crusade	10,906	0.21	0	–7	0	–1
	Revolutionary Action Group	9,034	0.17	0	New	0	New
	National Opinion [es]	7,961	0.15	0	–1	0	0
	Independents for Community Development	6,719	0.13	0	New	0	New
	Other parties	3,753	0.07	0	–	0	–
Total		5,282,889	100.00	199	–1	44	–3
Valid votes		5,282,889	96.94
Invalid/blank votes		166,901	3.06
Total votes		5,449,790	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		6,223,903	87.56
Source: Nohlen