Venezuelans in Australia began exercising their right to vote

• In a video posted on social media, the first voter can be seen placing his ballot in the box at a polling station in the capital city of Canberra.

Venezuelans living in Australia have begun to exercise their right to vote in that country, where it is already Sunday, July 28, the date set for the holding of the presidential elections in Venezuela.

In a video shared on social media, the first voter can be seen exercising his right to vote at a polling station. His name is Gabriel Mijares and he voted at the Venezuelan Embassy in the capital city of Canberra.

The Venezuelan addressed a few words to his fellow countrymen to encourage them to go out and vote. “Everyone go out, it’s the golden moment,” said the young man to the Venezuela Vota team.

The voter said he travelled from Brisbane, Australia, a journey of approximately 11 hours. He also said he exercised his right to vote even though it was -3 degrees Celsius.

The former president of the Association of Venezuelans in Australia, Sergio Diago, in an interview for SBS Audio Australia in SpanishHe explained that two voting tables were set up for these elections and each one will serve around 500 voters.

#Presidential election | Venezuelans living in Australia began to exercise their right to vote in that country, where it is already Sunday #28Jul.

According to the journalist @AurimarFreitezthe first voter was Gabriel Mijares, who voted at the polling station in the… pic.twitter.com/JQXWNQDiev

— The Daily (@eldiario) July 27, 2024

Few Venezuelans in Australia were able to register to vote

The 2021 Population Census documented that at least 6,627 Venezuelans live in Australia. However, according to reports from members of the Venezuelan diaspora, many citizens living abroad were unable to meet the requirements to register with the National Electoral Council (CNE).

People claimed that the CNE had not given enough time to register abroad and that there were delays in meeting the high demand of voters; in addition to the impossibility of presenting requirements such as a valid identity card, residence abroad for at least three years and a valid passport.

“Registration was open here for a very short time. Of the Venezuelans who recently arrived in Australia, only seven people were able to register, which adds to the nearly one thousand voters previously registered,” Diago said.

Venezuelans protested against “unconstitutional requirements”

On April 4, Venezuelan citizens in Spain gathered in front of the Venezuelan consulate in Madrid to protest against what they consider “constitutional requirements” to register in the Electoral Registry.

The EFE news agency reported that the protesters, mostly Venezuelans living in the Spanish capital, delivered a letter signed by more than 100 people to the diplomatic headquarters and addressed to the five Venezuelan consuls in Spain.

In it, they express their “concern” about the “limiting” requirements established by the consular authorities for registration, specifically, the obligation to provide proof of residence and a passport with a minimum validity of one year.

Photo: EFE

They also complained about delays and slowness in the opening of consular registration and asked for “a two-week extension” and one or two special days to be able to exercise their “constitutional right to vote.”

In Colombia, Venezuelan diaspora organizations reported on April 3 that in Bogotá they were asked to meet “requirements that are not in the law to register as voters” for the presidential elections, which in their opinion is violating their right to vote.

“What is being done here is an electoral blockade for all Venezuelans who want to vote from Colombia (…) by placing requirements that are outside the law,” María Corina Rivodó, from the non-governmental organization (NGO) Gran Acuerdo Venezuela, told EFE.

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The Venezuelan NGO Access to Justice denounced irregularities in the voter registration process ahead of the July 28 presidential elections in Venezuela and abroad.

“Everything seems to indicate that the objective is to discourage participation,” the organization said in a press release published on April 4, in which it listed shortcomings such as the “small number of registration centers, the few resources they have and the short period of time they will be operating.”

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