#Táchira | Scanning of ID cards, operation torrocoy, shots, pamphlets and graffiti during the electoral process

The scanning of identity cards by officials of the Plan República in various voting centers in the state of Táchira, without this being part of the electoral horseshoe established by the National Electoral Council (CNE), was the largest incident reported in the Andean entity during the presidential election this Sunday, July 28.

Although the process was supposed to start at 6 a.m., the report from voters in line indicated that most of the polling stations opened their doors after 7 a.m.

Once the tables were set up, Plan República officials began to raffle off the ballots, which was rejected by the voters because it was not a requirement of the horseshoe, and because they were not sure at which table they should exercise their right to vote.

At the Táchira National High School, located in Las Acacias in San Cristóbal, the process began at 7:30 am, presumably because not all the witnesses from one of the political parties had arrived. After the start, the passage of voters was slow because scanning the ID took at least four minutes longer than normal.

This led the citizens to make the respective complaint and in mediation with the military personnel they agreed not to continue with the scanning.

Armando Méndez arrived at the polling station at 5 a.m. By then, he had a line of people ahead of him that was about two blocks long. He managed to vote around 9 a.m. “It took a long time to start, but after they stopped scanning IDs, it was quicker. Inside the horseshoe everything was fast,” he said.

The same thing happened at the Boca de Caneyes National School, in the Guásimos municipality, where voters spent more than seven hours waiting to vote. “They started with the scanning of the identity card and when we refused to give it, they stopped the process for more than two hours. Then they started again and at table 1 they said that the machine had broken down, it was horrible because in my case I came without even having breakfast,” said Paolina Hernández.

In educational centers in the city of Rubio, Junín del Táchira municipality, the lines were also kilometer-long, since with the scanning of the ID in some and the failure of voting machines in others, the process became slower.

Zulay Ramírez was at the Pablo Emilio Ostos School in Rubio since 3:30 in the morning and it was 10 am and she had not been able to get in. She indicated that the delivery of the identification card was a mandatory requirement at this electoral center. If any citizen refused to hand it over, the process was stopped.

Regarding this situation, the political leader of the Primero Justicia party, Eduardo Delgado, reported that the scanning was recorded in at least 15 voting centers in Táchira. In some cases, the incident was corrected.

Frontera

Since 4 a.m. this Sunday, residents on the border with Colombia reported that subjects on motorcycles fired into the air at educational centers in the El Palotal sector, Bolívar del Táchira municipality.

The information was also confirmed by the leader Eduardo Delgado, who stressed that after a few hours the security agencies intervened, controlling the situation, without giving an assessment of what had happened.

At 6 a.m., the governor of Táchira, Freddy Bernal, declared outside the Bustamante National School, where he exercised his right to vote. His assessment was of a peaceful and tranquil border.

Another incident was the distribution of pamphlets by hooded individuals to political and social leaders in the Antonio Rómulo Costa municipality, as well as messages on walls in San Pedro del Río, Ayacucho municipality, a situation that was confirmed by the political secretary of Vente Venezuela, Mercedes Ramírez.

On this occasion, the presence of red, white or blue dots was not observed.

After two in the afternoon, there were no longer any queues at most of the polling stations in the capital of Tachira.

PHOTOS: CARLOS EDUARDO RAMIREZ