Ryan C. Berg writes for CSIS: Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) scheduled regional and local elections for November 21, 2021. Subsequently, rather than hand-picking candidates, Venezuela’s ruling party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), decided to hold its first regional primaries since 2008. The process is divided into two distinct phases: (1) the nomination phase, which took place on June 27, 2021, where only grassroots Chavista groups, known as Unidades de Batalla Hugo Chávez (UBCHs), voted for a maximum of 20 pre-candidates per office; and (2) the primaries phase (EPAs), which will take place on August 8, 2021, where any CNE-registered voter can select the final PSUV candidate to run in November’s regional elections.
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