Rector Juan Carlos Delpino acknowledged the “lack of transparency” in the electoral process of July 28

Juan Carlos Delpino Boscán, head of the National Electoral Council (CNE), issued a statement on Monday in which he acknowledged the “lack of transparency and veracity of the announced results” of the electoral process of July 28.

“Everything that happened before, during and after the presidential election, points to the seriousness of the lack of transparency and veracity of the announced results,” he said in the text, published almost a month after the elections.

Delpino said that the electoral process initially took place with few incidents. However, it suffered serious problems after the closing of the voting tables.

“After the closing of the voting tables, a breach of essential rules and regulations was evident. When incidents of eviction of opposition witnesses were reported during the closing of the tables, which constituted a direct violation of the principles of equity and a failure to observe the rights of voters to have access to the voting records, compromising the legitimacy of the process in those voting centers,” he said.

According to protocols, Delpino said, the transmission of results should be done immediately after the polling stations closed. However, it was during that period that the transmission was interrupted and justified by an alleged hack, “there being silence and an unexplained delay.”

He indicated that at 9:00 pm he was informed of the alleged hacking. “This event supposedly prevented the issuance of the first bulletin at the appropriate time and kept the country in an unjustified wait. Given the evacuation of witnesses in many centers, the lack of transmission of the QR code to the command data centers, and the lack of an effective solution to the alleged hacking, I made the decision not to go up to the totalization room and not attend the announcement of the first bulletin. As the main rector, by not going up to the totalization room, I lack the evidence to support the announced results.”

In the statement, Rector Delpino criticized the lack of timely publication of the results table by table and the suspension of crucial audits. He also expressed his discontent with the exclusion of political parties and the lack of discussion on the presence of international observers, emphasizing his commitment to ethics and transparency.

“I deeply regret that the result and its recognition do not serve all Venezuelans, that it does not resolve our differences and does not promote national unity and that instead, most Venezuelans and the international community are left with doubts about the results,” he concluded.

The full statement is below:

With information from El Nacional