Here’s what you need to know about the voting process

On July 28, citizens will exercise their right to vote in Venezuela’s sixteenth presidential election. Venezuelans will elect the next president of the Republic for the 2025-2031 period.

According to information from the National Electoral Council (CNE), there are 21 million 620 thousand 705 voters, who will be able to exercise their right to vote next Sunday.

The updated figure was issued by the electoral body, following the data update of the Electoral Registry, which took place between March 18 and April 16.

During this period, citizens over 18 years of age could register for the first time in the Electoral Registry or change their voting center.

The CNE has set up more than 300 points throughout the country so that Venezuelans can register or update their data by presenting their identity cards.

Most of the points were located in the main squares of all the cities that make up the national geography.

Voting Process

The National Electoral Council showed the step-by-step process to ensure that the voting process is fast and efficient. On its website and social media, the CNE posted informational material with each of the stations that make up the electoral horseshoe.

1. ID: The voter must present his or her identity card (valid or expired) to verify the data in the Integrated Authentication System. The polling station member will then return the document and activate the voting machine.
2. Voting: The voter will stand in front of the voting machine, where the ballot will be displayed. The voter must choose the candidate of his/her preference, then press the box VOTE. Finally, you will have to wait for the voting receipt to be issued.
3. Deposit: After verifying that the receipt has the name of the selected candidate printed on it, the voter must fold the paper and place it in the safekeeping box.
4. Voting notebook: The voter must place his signature and fingerprint in the space corresponding to his name in the voting booklet.

It is worth noting that at the entrance of each voting center there will be lists with the information of the voters, so that the voter knows which table he or she should vote at.

Likewise, Plan República personnel and members of the table are able to guide voters within the voting center.

Courtesy of CNE

Read also: Saab warns those who talk about election results before the CNE

Voting abroad

Citizens abroad will exercise their right to vote manually and must go to embassies and consulates to complete the process.

In this case, the ballot has a variant, since next to each candidate there will be an oval that the voter must fill in to choose the candidate of his/her preference. Afterwards, he/she must put the ballot in the safekeeping box.

According to article 124 of the Organic Law on Electoral Processes, “only voters who have residency or any other status that denotes legal residence outside of Venezuela may vote abroad. Likewise, officials assigned to embassies, consulates and commercial offices may vote abroad.”

Data from the National Electoral Council show that 69,211 voters abroad are eligible to vote on July 28.

Voting Centers

The National Electoral Council has enabled more than 15 thousand voting centers distributed throughout the country. It also reported that 30,026 voting tables will be available.

The country’s voting governing body also activated the messaging service 2637, where the user can send their identity card number and will automatically receive information about the voting center where they can vote.

The CNE also maintains the telephone line 0-800VOTEMOS (0-800-8683667) active for any questions that voters may have about the voting process.