Nicolás Maduro has been declared the winner of multiple presidential elections in Venezuela, but every one of his victories has been heavily contested and widely criticized as neither free nor fair.

Basic answer

  • Maduro technically has been “elected” several times, in the sense that Venezuela’s official electoral authorities have proclaimed him the winner in:
    • The snap presidential election of April 2013, after Hugo Chávez’s death.
* The presidential election of May 2018, which gave him a second term to 2025.

* The disputed presidential election of 28 July 2024, after which he was declared winner with just over 51% of the vote and later sworn in for a third term in January 2025.
  • However, all of these contests have been marred by:
    • Allegations of fraud and vote manipulation.
    • Disqualification, jailing, or exile of key opposition figures.
    • Use of state resources and pressure on public employees and beneficiaries of social programmes.
    • Lack of transparent, verifiable results in the more recent vote.

Because of this, many Venezuelans, opposition parties, and a large group of foreign governments and international organizations argue that Maduro’s rule is de facto authoritarian and that his “elections” do not confer genuine democratic legitimacy.

2013: First election after Chávez

When Hugo Chávez died in March 2013, a snap election was called. Maduro, Chávez’s chosen successor, ran as the government’s candidate.

  • He was officially said to have:
    • Defeated opposition candidate Henrique Capriles by about 1.5–1.6 percentage points.
* Been inaugurated on 19 April 2013 after the electoral authority promised a full audit of the vote.
  • Capriles and the opposition:
    • Immediately contested the results and demanded a recount.
    • Questioned irregularities and state-media dominance, saying the playing field was not fair.

So, yes, he was “elected” in 2013 according to official figures, but under a cloud of controversy from day one.

2018: Widely condemned reelection

In 2018, Maduro stood for reelection in an environment of economic collapse, hyperinflation, and mass emigration.

Key points:

  • The main opposition coalition largely boycotted the election after:
    • Many prominent rivals were barred, jailed, or forced into exile.
    • Conditions were deemed fundamentally unfair.
  • Official results:
    • Turnout officially around the mid‑40% range, though opposition sources say it was lower.
* Maduro declared winner with about 68% of votes cast, securing a second term through 2025.
  • International reaction:
    • The United States, most of the Lima Group countries in Latin America, Canada, and the European Union refused to recognize the result as legitimate.
* Numerous observers labeled the election “neither free nor fair”.

In practice, this means that while Maduro was formally “reelected” in 2018, a significant part of the international community and much of the domestic opposition regard that mandate as illegitimate.

2024 vote and third term

Venezuela’s next presidential election took place on 28 July 2024, against a backdrop of deep crisis and a more unified opposition.

Leading up to the vote:

  • Opposition leader María Corina Machado overwhelmingly won the opposition primary but was barred from running by pro‑government institutions.
  • The opposition’s replacement candidate was also blocked, and eventually Edmundo González became the unity candidate on the ballot.

On election day and after:

  • The official National Electoral Council, aligned with Maduro, announced:
    • Maduro had won with roughly 51–51.2% of the vote in a close race.
  • The opposition said:
    • Their parallel tally of printed polling‑station records (actas) showed González actually won by a wide margin, roughly double Maduro’s vote total.
* The government hid or refused to publish crucial tally sheets while rushing to proclaim Maduro’s victory.

Despite the dispute, Maduro was sworn in for a third presidential term on 10 January 2025, further entrenching his hold on power and deepening Venezuela’s political crisis.

So, was Maduro “really” elected?

From a legal‑formal standpoint inside Venezuela:

  • Yes:
    • Venezuela’s official institutions have declared him the winner in 2013, 2018, and 2024, and he has taken office on that basis.

From a democratic‑legitimacy standpoint:

  • Serious doubts:
    • Narrow and contested margin in 2013; immediate opposition challenge.
* Boycotted, one‑sided, and widely condemned election in 2018.

* Deeply disputed 2024 result, with strong evidence from opposition tallies that the official numbers do not reflect the true vote.

This is why many analysts describe Maduro as an authoritarian ruler who uses elections as controlled rituals to maintain power, rather than as genuinely competitive, free, and fair democratic contests.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.