They're starting to slip...

There are long lines at polling stations in Venezuela where a recall referendum will determine whether President Hugo Chavez will remain in power, or be forced from office. Long delays in the voting process could cast doubt on the outcome.

Delays at polling stations have been caused by a lengthy process of identification for each voter that includes a fingerprint scanner. In many places, voters say they have been standing in line for hours, with little movement in the line.

... Caracas voters say they have been in line for several hours, and are still not even in sight of the polling station.

Someone needs to nip this in the bud. I know when I vote in the states, I've been forced to stand in line for hours as well at times, only to find when I get to the front of the line that I'm at the wrong polling station. And in all events, I have to prove I am who I say I am; welcome to mass democracy.

Standing in line to vote sure as hell beats standing in line for food. Please, someone on the ground there, set the record straight on this whining, before it becomes an excuse to cast doubt on the results of the vote.

At least the Associated Press via ABCNews is reporting that:

Election officials decided to keep polls open at least four hours longer than scheduled and assured voters that polling stations would be kept open until everyone in line cast their ballots.

ABCNews recently posted this update, a five paragraph story on news they already reported in an earlier story. (Notice, fourth graph down.)

Bloomberg just followed suite.

Keep voting!

ONE person died and 10 others were wounded today when gunmen opened fire on voters just outside Caracas during a referendum on the mandate of Venezuela's controversial president, firefighters said.

"What we know is that voters were in line and people opened fire from motorbikes, and there are 10 people with bullet wounds and one person dead," said Caracas fire chief Rodolfo Briceno.

The incident occurred in an impoverished area 17km east of the capital.

Mr Briceno said he did not have any other details.

The referendum was called to determine whether President Hugo Chavez should step down two years before his mandate ends in 2006.

These are Chavez supporters who are being fired upon. If true, where is Jimmy Carter now. This is clearly an effort to scare off Chavez backers standing in line to vote.

The true blood is starting to show. To quote Marvin Gaye, "What's going on?"

In Juan Forero's piece uploaded 16 minutes ago to the NYT, according to google.  
"This is the largest turnout I have ever seen," said former President Jimmy Carter, whose Carter Center in Atlanta is monitoring the electoral process. "There are thousands of people in line, waiting patiently and without any disturbance."

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story .jsp?story=551867

The Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, looked to be losing his grip on power last night as exit polls showed him to be trailing the opposition by almost a million votes.

The figures were early indications that, for the first time in the country's history, the President may have his term in office cut short by a referendum.

The mid-morning results showed that the opposition, already boasting an enormous 1,758,000 votes to Chavez's 798,000, is well on its way to reaching the target of 3.76 million votes it needs to oust the authoritarian, left-wing President. Turn-out for the referendum was high, with millions of Venezuelans queuing from the early hours at polling stations all over the oil-rich country to decide the political fate of the firebrand Mr Chavez.

Let's talk about lousy, lazy, yellow journalism, and on a left-leaning paper, too. First, it's a bit early for such predictions, no? Second, it's still 8:15PM on the 15th here in Caracas, too early to legally release results, hell, the polls are still open for four more hours! Third, let's have a source for these numbers, Hannah. Perhaps because none exists, or perhaps you're using the usual reliable source of the escualido opposition. The government has strictly and explicitly forbidden any early release of polling numbers, and they will be in the form of percentages, not hard numbers, when they are released. Fourth - Left wing authoritarian president? Independent, you need to be more careful in your screening process. And enough with the "firebrand" bullshit already! I've come to expect more, much more, from the Independent and the Observer. Get your facts straight before you lose your credibility.