Millions turn out to end or defend Chavez

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelans turned out in unprecedented numbers Sunday to decide whether to force leftist President Hugo Chavez from office, waiting in mile-long lines as election officials promised to keep polls until everyone got to vote.

The sheer number of voters -- believed to be a record in Venezuela -- along with problems with electronic thumb-printing machines overwhelmed election authorities, who twice postponed the polls' closing to midnight, eight hours later than originally scheduled.

Predawn fireworks and bugle calls roused people from their beds for the first presidential recall vote in Venezuela's history. The ballot aims to put a lid on years of often violent political unrest and resulted from a lengthy and complicated process of mass petitioning.

Some lines at polling places extended for 1.25 miles, stunning even veteran election monitors. Opposition leaders appealed to Venezuelans to bring food and water to those still waiting to cast ballots.

"This is the largest turnout I have ever seen," exclaimed former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who monitored the vote. "There are thousands of people in line, waiting patiently and without any disturbance."

Even as ballots were still being cast, hundreds of "Chavistas," as Chavez supporters are called, converged on the presidential palace to celebrate, blowing whistles and chanting that Chavez won.

Leaflets scattered in front of the palace declared victory and called on "everyone to go to the streets to celebrate and defend the victory."

Enrique Mendoza, a state governor considered a likely presidential candidate if Chavez is ousted, urged voters to not abandon the lines, saying every ballot would be counted.

He blasted the "absurd delays and technical difficulties" prolonging the vote.

Venezuelans tend to love or hate Chavez, a 50-year-old former paratroop commander, with sentiment drawn along class lines. Activists from both sides urged voters to the polls, but they needed little pushing.

Lines snaked for blocks through upscale neighborhoods, where suspicion is high that Chavez plans a Cuba-style dictatorship, and in the slums, where support for his "revolution for the poor" is fervent.

A seven-hour wait to vote was common. Opposition leaders said delays were partly caused by electronic thumbprint ID registration system to keep people from voting more than once. Some of the machines had difficulty registering thumbprints. Even Chavez had to move to another machine after the first one failed.

At one large polling station Sunday night, a line of frustrated voters chanted: "Out with the thumbprint machines!"

Lula Golding, a 54-year-old Chavez opponent, awoke to earsplitting fireworks in Caracas' trendy Chacao district at 3 a.m., and voted when polls opened three hours later. "The hate that the president has sown among Venezuelans is unacceptable," he said.

Across the capital in the La Pastora slum of brick shanties, thousands of Chavez supporters also rose before dawn to "reveille" bugle calls from loudspeakers. Hours later, many were still calmly waiting to vote under a radiant Caribbean sun.

Miguel Rodriguez, a 41-year-old bus driver, helped the get-out-the-vote effort by transporting Chavez supporters to polls.

"Chavez is working hard to improve life for the impoverished, giving them opportunities that past governments never even considered," Rodriguez said.

The leftist leader has directed spending from government coffers -- beefed up by huge oil revenues -- to pay for literacy programs, scholarships and free medical care for Venezuela's majority poor. Thousands of Cuban doctors, dentists and nurses sent by Chavez' friend Cuban President Fidel Castro work in poor barrios across this South American nation.

Chavez has often lashed out at the rich, even referring to them as "devils."

Uncertainty about the future of the world's fifth-largest oil exporter has contributed to record high oil prices, which have reached more than $46 a barrel.

The president of Venezuela's state-run oil company said Sunday the industry will enter a new period of stability and growth regardless of the vote's outcome, although he suggested that Chavez would win.

"For the oil industry, this event will contribute to stabilization," said Ali Rodriguez, the president of Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., or PDVSA. "At last our oil workers can work without the constant pressure of these campaigns."

Chavez called on the opposition to accept the results, and pledged that he would, too.

"We are waiting calmly and are preparing mentally, and with a lot of joy, to accept the result, no matter what the result will be," Chavez said after casting his ballot in a poor Caracas neighborhood.

Venezuelans could either vote "no," allowing Chavez to serve out the remainder of his six-year term which began in 2000, or "yes" to recall him. For Chavez to lose, more must vote against him than the nearly 3.8 million who voted for him in the 2000 presidential elections, and there must also be more "yes" votes than "no" votes.

If Chavez loses, he would immediately step down and Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel would take over until an election is held within 30 days. Chavez has said he plans to run in the new election if he is ousted in the referendum.

The dissemination of exit polls is banned, and results were not expected until several hours after polls close.

The referendum comes after a two-year drive to oust Chavez, which included a short-lived 2002 coup, a devastating two-month strike and political riots last March that claimed a dozen lives.

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AP reporters Juan Pablo Toro and Fabiola Sanchez in Caracas contributed to this report.