Enrique Márquez: Hacking reported by electoral body “takes away the reliability” of its system

Caracas, Aug 2 (EFE).- Opposition candidate Enrique Márquez, who participated as a candidate in the presidential elections in Venezuela last Sunday, said on Friday that the hacking reported by the National Electoral Council (CNE) – which attributed the delay in the announcement of the results to this fact – removes “reliability” from its system, considered by the authorities to be the “best” in the world.

On the social network X, Márquez, who was electoral rector between 2021 and 2023, said that the reported hacking – which did not prevent the institution, however, from declaring Nicolás Maduro re-elected president – removes “reliability and transparency from the data transmission system that served as the basis for proclaiming a candidate.”

The anti-Chavez leader made this statement before attending the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) to appear as part of an investigation requested by the head of state to clarify “everything that needs to be clarified” about the elections, whose official results are rejected by the majority opposition and questioned by a large part of the international community.

I hope that this matter will not be used as a way for the CNE to hide under the robes of the magistrates.

Today, more than ever, our institutions must operate within the framework of the Constitution and thus preserve peace throughout our beloved and suffering Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/YnoWC9HFu7

— Enrique Marquez (@ENRIQUEMARQUEZP) August 2, 2024

In his message on X, Márquez stressed “the urgent need for the CNE, in compliance with its constitutional obligations, to immediately publish the minutes of the scrutiny of each of the electoral tables.”

“It is a crucial moment for our institutions to function in accordance with the Venezuelan Constitution,” said the opposition member, who warned that he did not receive an official notification of the TSJ meeting, but that he found out about it “through social networks,” which is why, in his opinion, it is a “blind date” with a “high degree of opacity.”

The candidates, with the exception of the flag bearer of the majority opposition, Edmundo González Urrutia, attended the TSJ – presided by the Chavista Caryslia Rodríguez -, which urged “all the subjects involved” to abide by the sentence that will be issued, in a period yet to be estimated, on the review that will be made of the result.

With 96.87% of the votes transmitted counted, according to the balance sheet presented this Friday by the CNE, Maduro was re-elected with 51.95% of the votes, while González Urrutia obtained 43.18% of the votes.

However, the majority opposition – grouped in the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) – published on a website “81%” of the electoral records that show, according to anti-Chavez supporters, that their candidate won the elections by a wide margin, a result recognized by countries such as Argentina, the United States and Peru, among others.

Regarding the summons to the TSJ:

1. I found out about this alleged summons through social media. No bailiff from the Electoral Chamber ever sent me a summons telling me that I had been summoned, nor telling me the time of the meeting, nor telling me what the purpose of the meeting was…

— Enrique Marquez (@ENRIQUEMARQUEZP) August 2, 2024