Voto Joven denounced the use of public resources during the electoral campaign in Venezuela

• Lawyer Wanda Cedeño said that institutional social media accounts of the State have been used | Main photo: EFE/ Ronald Peña

The national coordinator of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Voto Joven, Wanda Cedeño, denounced the use of public resources in favor of the campaign of President Nicolás Maduro, which constitutes a violation of electoral regulations in view of the presidential elections of July 28.

According to the provisions of point number 7 of Article 76 of the Organic Law of Electoral Processes (Lopre), the use of “public goods and goods subject to public services” for the deployment of electoral propaganda is not permitted.

“The campaign has been carried out with certain details, especially related to the use of public resources. Mainly, in relation to the use of institutional accounts (on social networks) to promote specific candidates. (Accounts are used) from ministries and from the National Integrated Service of Customs and Tax Administration (Seniat),” Cedeño said on July 9 in an interview for the newspaper Successes Circuit.

According to the NGO coordinator, in this campaign period, officially started on July 4thThe National Electoral Council (CNE) should “supervise” the use of public resources in the campaigns and noted that the electoral body is obliged to inform voters regarding all the candidates that have been registered.

Photo: Archive / Courtesy of Provea

Wanda Cedeño recommended that citizens report any irregularities they may be aware of during the electoral campaign, which will end on July 25. The lawyer recommended the use of an application called “Say it here”, developed by the NGO Electoral Transparency.

“They are in charge of reviewing the correct use of public resources during the development of any electoral campaign. (…) It is important that the reporting of all these irregularities is supported by evidence, that is, that citizens verify the use of institutional accounts for the promotion of certain candidates,” he added.

The national coordinator of Youth Vote He called on citizens who were selected as members of the table through the draw carried out by the CNE to carry out the trainingCedeño recalled that those who were selected to carry out this task in the electoral process have until July 27 to complete the training.

Photo: screenshot from the CNE website

“It is important to clarify two things. The first is that the CNE website will only accept the ID of the people who were selected as members of the polling station (…). And the second is that people have to remember their password because there is no password recovery button. That is one of the flaws of the CNE website,” he said.

How to do the training if you were selected as a board member?

Citizens who were selected in the CNE draw as polling station members must undergo training in order to be able to perform their duties. To do so, they must choose to take the following steps:

-Register on the CNE Training System website www.ecap.cne.gob.ve

-Enter the website with your ID number and password (this password must be remembered because there is no password recovery option)

-You must complete a six-module course online (all are on video)

-Take an exam to receive accreditation

-Print the accreditation

Another option to train as a polling station member is to go to the municipal centers indicated in the list that appears on the CNE website, which is divided by entities and municipalities.

Training for polling station members began on June 28 and will continue until July 27, the day before the presidential elections.

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