CARACAS (AFP) — Venezuelans on Sunday began voting for governors and mayors in elections seen as a popularity test for leftist President Hugo Chavez, one year after the anti-US leader lost a referendum on extending his authority.
Polling stations opened at around 6:00 am (1030 GMT) and were due to close at 4:00 pm (2030 GMT), for some 17 million eligible voters.
Surveys suggest Chavez's United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) will likely hold most states and cities, but may lose some posts as voters express concern over escalating crime, corruption and inefficiency.
Chavez, in power for almost 10 years, has crossed the country campaigning for his party's candidates, ensuring that the polls will also test support for him and his socialist revolution.
"My destiny is at stake ... Whether Chavez keeps governing Venezuela will depend on what happens on November 23," the president said recently.
Diverse opposition groups have meanwhile agreed to join together to increase chances for victory and run single candidates in 20 of 22 gubernatorial races and in more than 200 of 328 mayoral races.
The opposition currently controls two states -- northwestern Zulia and northeastern Nueva Esparta -- and another four are in the hands of Chavez dissidents.
Surveys suggest the opposition could win between five and seven governorships in their bid to gain back some lost power.
Opposition gains in symbolic areas of the oil-rich OPEC country such as Caracas or big states Chavez's allies have controlled for years would be the biggest blows.
Chavez, a friend to Iran, Russia and Cuba's Fidel Castro, is highly aware of his need for a visible victory to push forward his cause.
Critics say the president's constant campaigning alongside local candidates sidelined local issues such as rising insecurity or public services.
"Chavez avoids these problems because the evaluation of gubernatorial management in these spheres is terribly bad," said Luis Vicente Leon, an analyst from Datanalisis.
"He leads discussions onto areas where he feels stronger, such as attempts to overthrow him or revolution."
Chavez, 54, led a failed military coup in 1992 and was briefly overthrown for two days in April, 2002.
But until last year's narrow referendum loss, the outspoken anti-liberal -- popular among the country's majority poor who he has helped with social programs -- had always emerged from polls with convincing victories.
Famous for his fiery language, Chavez has threatened to imprison opponents, or even send tanks onto the streets if his party loses in the populous northwestern state of Carabobo.
Local and regional police will be off duty to cede polling day control to some 140,000 soldiers.
Some 300 candidates, mainly from the opposition, have been prevented from running in the elections.
Many say that, despite last year's referendum defeat, the firebrand leader is still seeking to change the constitution in a bid to stay in office beyond 2013 when his second six-year term will end.
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