BTN News: The United Nations has officially released its long-awaited report on the recent Venezuelan elections held on July 28th, casting a stark light on the electoral process in the country. The report, which was initially intended to remain confidential, has raised significant concerns about the transparency and integrity of the elections, suggesting that the process failed to meet the basic standards required for credible democratic practices.
According to the document, the elections did not adhere to the national legal and regulatory provisions and failed to meet crucial deadlines, resulting in a lack of trust among a large portion of the Venezuelan electorate. This finding is particularly concerning given the importance of these elections in a country that has been grappling with political instability for years.
The United Nations, alongside the Carter Center, served as independent observers during the elections. Their participation was meant to provide a level of oversight, but the report highlights that the announcement of the election results without the publication of detailed data or the delivery of tabulated results to the candidates is unprecedented in contemporary democratic elections. This approach, according to the UN, severely undermined the confidence of the electorate in the results announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE).
In the hours leading up to the release of the report, Jorge Rodríguez, the president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, sharply criticized the UN observers, accusing them of breaching their confidentiality agreement by deciding to make the report public. Rodríguez’s outburst reflects the deepening tensions between the Venezuelan government and international observers who are scrutinizing the election process.
The report further delves into critical aspects of the election, including the handling of voting results and the alleged hacking incident that disrupted the transmission of results. The UN Panel of Experts examined a sample of the electoral records released by the opposition, led by María Corina Machado and Edmundo González. These records appeared to maintain the security features of the original protocols, indicating that a key transparency safeguard may still be intact, despite the overall lack of transparency in the official results.
The opposition took matters into their own hands by publishing more than 80 percent of the voting records on a website, which showed González as the winner. The ruling party, however, has not provided any comparable data, leaving the official results in doubt.
The UN report also touches on voter participation, noting that the CNE reported a voter turnout of 59.97 percent, a significant increase from the 45.74 percent turnout in the 2018 presidential elections. Both opposition parties and the CNE provided similar participation figures, though the report suggests that the turnout might have been even higher if only registered voters within the country were considered.
The electronic voting system, despite being well-designed and reliable, encountered significant issues. Initially, the system worked as intended, with secure digital transmission of results to the CNE’s central tabulation center. However, this process was abruptly halted hours after the polls closed, with no explanation given to the candidates or the UN Panel at the time.
The situation escalated when the CNE president claimed that a terrorist cyberattack had disrupted the transmission process, causing delays in tabulation. Despite this claim, the CNE postponed and eventually canceled three crucial post-election audits, including one that could have clarified whether an external attack on the transmission infrastructure actually occurred.
On the morning of July 29th, the CNE president announced orally that President Nicolás Maduro had won the election with 5,150,092 votes (51.2 percent), with González trailing at 4,445,978 votes (44.2 percent). He stated that these figures were based on 80 percent of the voting stations. A few days later, on August 2nd, the CNE confirmed Maduro’s victory with updated figures showing 6,408,844 votes (51.95 percent) for Maduro and 5,326,104 votes (43.18 percent) for González, allegedly based on 96.97 percent of the results.
However, these announcements were made without any supporting infographics or the publication of detailed results broken down by voting station, as required by the electoral framework. This lack of transparency has fueled further doubts about the legitimacy of the electoral process and the accuracy of the results.
In summary, the UN report highlights serious concerns about the transparency and fairness of the Venezuelan elections, suggesting that the process was marred by significant irregularities. The lack of detailed public results and the abrupt halting of the electronic transmission system have cast a long shadow over the credibility of the election, leaving many Venezuelans questioning the true outcome.
