UN panel finds Venezuelan CNE processes lack transparency

A United Nations panel of experts said that Venezuelan electoral authorities’ handling of results following the July 28 elections lacked “basic measures of transparency and integrity that are essential for holding credible elections.”

In an internal report, to which EFE had access on Tuesday, the panel of four electoral experts emphasized the statement made by the National Electoral Council (CNE), according to which the current president of that country, Nicolás Maduro, was re-elected for a third consecutive term in the elections of last July 28.

The report notes that the CNE’s announcements on July 29 and August 2, “without the publication of their details or the delivery of tabulated results to the candidates is unprecedented in contemporary democratic elections.”

The announcements consisted of oral communications without any infographic support and in fact the CNE has not yet published “any results (or results broken down by polling station), to support its oral announcements as provided for in the legal framework for elections,” the document adds.

According to the panel’s experts, this “had a negative impact on confidence in the result announced by the CNE among a large part of the Venezuelan electorate.”

The report notes that it has been able to observe a small sample of the minutes of several polling stations that are in the public domain, including those published on the internet by the opposition, which “exhibit all the security features of the original results protocols.”

The report also refers to the complaint made by Maduro on July 31, 2024 before the Electoral Chamber of the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice, in which he requested a review of the process and the results, after which said entity announced that it would proceed with a process of expert verification of the documentation presented by the CNE.

Experts say that there is currently no detailed information available on how this verification is being carried out.

Post-election climate

The panel also referred to protests that took place between July 29 and August 2, which have left more than 20 people dead, including a soldier, and more than 1,000 people arrested, figures that, the panel noted, “have continued to rise.”

“The panel also heard reports of threats and intimidation against party members and election officials,” the document said.

Experts agree that the election day of July 28 took place “in a largely peaceful atmosphere and was logistically well organized,” while the pre-election period also took place peacefully but “was marked by continued restrictions on civic and political space.”

Similarly, the government campaign enjoyed total control of state media, while opposition candidates had “very limited” access to them.

The report recalled that the panel, which remained in Venezuela from late June until August 2, was invited by the CNE and was not an electoral observer mission, and therefore, was not established to issue a public judgment on the outcome of the election.

“The objective was to monitor and report internally to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the electoral process and make recommendations for future improvements,” he added.

The CNE, which claims to have suffered a cyber attack on election day, has yet to publish disaggregated results confirming Maduro’s victory – contrary to its own rules – a silence that has been questioned by numerous countries.

The anti-Chavez alliance published on a website – investigated by the Venezuelan Prosecutor’s Office – more than 80% of the electoral records that confirm, according to the coalition, that its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, won by a wide margin.

Caracas / EFE