Poll open in Venezuela's constitutional referendum

[Judi Lynn]

Poll open in Venezuela's constitutional referendum
26 mins ago

CARACAS (AFP) – Polls opened in Venezuela early Sunday as voters began casting ballots in a referendum on constitutional changes, which would allow President Hugo Chavez to seek re-election without limits.

More than 16 million Venezuelans are eligible to take part in what is expected to be a tightly-fought battle in the increasingly polarized country.

Chavez, popular with the country's poor for health and education programs and blamed by a vocal opposition for rising crime, corruption and inflation, recently celebrated 10 years in power.

He was first elected to his post in 1998 and reelected in 2006.

Undecided voters will play a key role in the vote on scrapping electoral term limits, pollsters said at the end of the campaign, with Chavez showing a slight lead among those who had already decided.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090215/ts_afp/venezuelaeuropediplomacyspain