- Electoral experts reported what they were able to observe from late June to August 2 around the elections and published at least four key points about the process
The panel of electoral experts from the United Nations Organization (UN) that visited Venezuela in the context of the presidential elections of July 28 made public its report on the elections as a response to the political and social tension that has been recorded in the country following the results announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE).
The experts’ report was originally intended to be for internal UN use. However, the panel decided to publish it on Tuesday, August 13, in light of its conclusions and the events in Venezuela.
Below are some of the key points from the UN experts’ report:
They evaluated the election day and the announcement of the result
The panel of experts included in its report preliminary conclusions about what happened on election day and the days on which results were issued.
The experts clarify that they were not on an observation mission, but rather their main objective was to provide recommendations to the CNE on how to improve its process for future elections.
The group of experts was in Venezuela from late June until August 2. However, the panel continues to monitor the situation in the country remotely, especially everything related to claims and future publications of results.
Without credibility or transparency
One of the most important points of the report was the assertion that the results issued by the CNE lack credibility and transparency.
“The CNE’s results management process did not comply with the basic transparency and integrity measures that are essential for the holding of credible elections,” the report states in its conclusions.
The experts pointed out that the electoral body did not comply with Venezuelan legal provisions or with the deadlines established in the country’s electoral laws for the publication of the results. They added that these situations affect Venezuelans’ confidence in the State institution.
An election without the publication of its details or the disclosure of its tabulated results to the candidates is unprecedented in contemporary democratic elections,” they added.
Unsupported results
Experts said that the two bulletins issued by the CNE consisted of oral reports in which the percentages and number of votes obtained by the candidates were discussed on television only.
The report details that there was no endorsement or detail of the specific results either on a website or in the electoral gazettes.
“The announcements of results consisted of oral communications without infographic support. The CNE did not publish, and has not yet published, any results (or results broken down by voting table) to support its oral announcements, as provided for in the electoral legal framework,” the document clarifies.
The experts pointed out that they have had access to the electoral material that remained after the elections, including that published by the Command with Venezuela on the Presidential Results 2024 web platform. They added that they have been able to verify that these materials have their security protocols such as seals, signatures and QR codes.
“This suggests that a key transparency safeguard would be available, as intended, in respect of any officially published results,” they added.
CNE IT Security
The panel found that the mechanisms implemented by the CNE to prevent cyberattacks were “robust” and operated at “several levels of protection against unauthorized connections.”
Experts reported that the transmission of results from voting machines to the CNE’s main tabulation center worked well initially, but then stopped abruptly in the hours after polling stations closed.
The electoral body reported alleged cyberattacks on its systems and used them to justify the non-publication of detailed results table by table.
The CNE president stated that a terrorist cyberattack had affected the transmission and caused a delay in the tabulation process. However, the CNE postponed and subsequently cancelled three key post-election audits, including one on the communication system that could have shed light on the occurrence of external attacks against the transmission infrastructure,” the report states.
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2024-08-15 05:05:22
