CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) 鈥 With its decades-long grip on power under threat, Venezuela鈥檚 ruling party on Sunday tested a voter organizing campaign aimed at shoring up President Nicol谩s Maduro's bid for a third term.
The assessment followed weeks of efforts by local organizers of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela to increase support for Maduro. Each was tasked with adding into a database 10 voters who have promised to vote for Maduro in the highly anticipated July 28 presidential election.
Local organizers as well as voters who pledged their support were expected to receive verification phone calls Sunday. Organizers who had not yet entered voter information into the database due to lack of internet access or experience with databases received help at party meetings across the country.
On election day, local party leaders must ensure the voters they registered make it to the polls no matter what.
The effort to measure support comes as Chavistas 鈥 devotees of the late fiery leader Hugo Ch谩vez 鈥 are no longer the reliable force that easily claimed electoral victories while the often divided opposition continues to work in unison.
The changes within each bloc have been driven primarily by the complex economic and political crisis that undid the country. As a result, the election is the biggest challenge faced by the ruling party since Ch谩vez, Maduro鈥檚 mentor and predecessor, became president more than two decades ago and began what he described as Venezuela's socialist revolution.
鈥淲e are already approaching record numbers,鈥 Maduro said Sunday evening without offering figures. 鈥淭he level of organization that you have reached at this point is impressive.鈥
Maduro added that starting Monday, he wants 鈥渢o see a quantitative and qualitative growth of demonstrations in each neighborhood, in each parish, in each community, in each municipality.鈥
People loyal to the ruling party control all branches of Venezuela鈥檚 government, and public employees are constantly pressured to participate in demonstrations. Each public employee is also being urged to register 10 pro-Maduro voters.
The local leaders who have been gathering names of expected Maduro voters coordinate various government programs, including the delivery of subsidized food. Some of those leaders in Caracas used the logs of the food program to identify people in their community they could add to the database of voters.
Venezuela鈥檚 electoral body earlier this year , fulfilling one of the provisions of between Maduro鈥檚 government and the U.S.-backed Unitary Platform opposition coalition.
Under the agreement, both sides vowed to work toward improving conditions for a free and fair election. But Maduro and his allies have continuously tested the limits of the accord, including by blocking the candidacy of the president鈥檚 chief opponent, , as well as of her chosen substitute.
Machado and the coalition are now backing .
Ahead of Sunday鈥檚 verification work, party members signaled that the information gathered through the organizing campaign would be carefully scrutinized.
好色tv Assembly member Saul Ortega earlier this week told state television that the effort represents a 鈥渢rue survey鈥 of the country and is 鈥渘othing other than the tracking of the vote鈥 across Venezuela.
