The three opposition primary candidates Enrique Caprilees (left), Maria Corina Machado (center) and Pablo Perez (right).

CARACAS - Turnout for Sunday's opposition primary election could be severely depressed due to threats against state employees that choose to cast a ballot, according to Teresa Albanes, president of the Electoral Committee of the Unified Democratic Panel, known by its Spanish acronym MUD.

On Wednesday, Albanes told Efe news agency that many threats against public servants that intended to vote had been widely reported. "If you plan to vote, you will be dumped, things like that," she explained. Albanes gave no details about the identity of the senders or recipients of the messages, for their personal security.

All Venezuelans have been encouraged by the MUD to show up on Sunday to vote in the opposition primaries to select the challenger to President Hugo Chávez, said Albanes, though many may fear repercussions. The presidential election between Sunday's winner and incumbent president Hugo Chavez is scheduled to take place on October 7th.

Albanes commented that despite the threats, she was pleased to report that the primary campaign that started last October had gone very smoothly, and had demonstrated a unity against the current regime that was uncommon in previous elections.

But, with electronic voting, many voters fear that their names will be collected by the Chavez regime and they will lose jobs and benefits simply for voting, as happened before with referendum voter lists that were publicly releaed. After the names were made public, there were recriminations and mass firings by the Chavez regime. It has not been determined whether foreign election observers will be allowed to monitor the election in October.