Venezuela's electoral council released this week the ballot that will be used in the July presidential elections, where the government is expected to face the largest challenge to its decades-long rule.
A salient aspect of the ballot is the fact that president Nicolás Maduro's face shows up 13 times, filling the entire top row and more.
Candidates occupy the slots assigned to all the parties they represent and are allowed to be in the ballot, meaning that the 10 people allowed to sign up are repeated in its 38 places.
However, Maduro is by far the one who shows up the most. He's followed by Luis Martinez, with 6 appearances, and Antonio Icarri, with 5.
Opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, the main challenger to Maduro, shows up three times in the ballot as the representative of the Mesa de la Unidad Democrática coalition, Un Nuevo Tiempo and Movimiento por Venezuela.
Despite the disparity, the opposition is seemingly gaining the upper hand after its decision to compete in the elections no matter what. A poll released by Datincorp this week shows González Urrutia with a 40-point lead over Maduro only weeks after being announced as the coalition candidate.
Concretely, González has 62% of the support compared to Maduro's 20%. Other candidates got a combined 12%. And the lead could continue growing, as only 55% of the 1,200 people surveyed knew who the opposition candidate was. The Miami Herald reported that another poll from last week already showed González already had a 20-point lead.
The poll's figures are consistent with another mid-April study showing that four in ten Venezuelans would consider leaving the country if Nicolás Maduro were to be reelected. Moreover, 45% of respondents claimed they did not know what they would decide while should Maduro win and only 16% expressed their desire to stay in the country if such an outcome were to take place.
González has delegated most of the ground campaigning to María Corina Machado, who was set to be the opposition candidate after winning a broad primary last year but was banned by the government, as well as her initial stand-in candidate, Corina Yoris.
González, however, has been giving interviews and appearing at virtual events to advance his candidacy. He did so at one organized by the Americas Council this week. Speaking alongside Machado, they reiterated their commitment to "go all the way." "It means bringing our children back home. That is the desire we all have each night," said Machado, who described the elections as an "existential, even spiritual fight."
"I had never been involved in a political campaign but what I'm seeing at the moment from the people is enthusiasm. People want to take part in this," said González Urrutia.
"We're organizing thousands across the country and it's a great honor for me to share this fight with a person like Edmundo González, who people can trust. We're aware the challenges we face but I'm confident that we'll win," concluded Machado.
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