Venezuelans headed to voting booth

CARACAS, Venezuela, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Venezuelans are voting in a parliamentary election that could produce a gain for the opposition group Table for Democratic Unity, a poll indicates.

Opinion polls indicate the opposition will take some seats lost to the United Socialist Party when many voters boycotted elections in 2005, the BBC reported.

Sunday's election is seen as a test of President Hugo Chavez's popularity two years before the presidential election, the report said.

Chavez appealed to Venezuela's 17 million voters to prevent a derailment of the Venezuelan "revolution," and denounced the opposition campaign as "Operation Demolition."

The 2005 boycott let Chavez gain control of most of the Assembly's 165 seats, but opposition strength is growing, and is shifting its focus in the current elections, the BBC said.

The murder rate in Venezuela has doubled since Chavez took office in 1999 to 14,000 last year, crime is rising and the cost of living is also escalating, all things opposition parties are using in campaigns.

Chavez disputes the murder statistic, and said recently it is "simply not true that Venezuela is one of the most dangerous countries in the world."

Chavez's administration has also been blamed for recent water and power shortages, the report said.