2013 Venezuelan presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Venezuela on 14 April 2013 following the death of President Hugo Chávez on 5 March 2013. Nicolás Maduro—who had assumed the role of acting president since Chávez's death—was declared winner with a narrow victory over his opponent Henrique Capriles, the Governor of Miranda. Capriles had run in the previous election less than a year before, losing to Chávez by an 11-point margin. This time the margin of victory was much smaller (being 1.49%), and thus became the closest presidential election of the country since the 1968 election.

Capriles did not accept the results of the elections, claiming election irregularities. Capriles initially called for an audit of the remaining 46% of votes, asserting that this would show that he had won the election. The election council agreed to carry out an audit, and planned to do so in May. Capriles later asked a full audit of the electoral registry, with validation of all fingerprints and signatures in the records. On 12 June 2013 National Electoral Council (CNE) announced that the audit had found no discrepancy with the initial results and confirmed Maduro's electoral victory.

Maduro was sworn in as the new head of state on 19 April. The Supreme Court of Justice denied Capriles' appeal on 7 August 2013.