When is a vote invalid?

• If a vote is invalid, the user does not have the opportunity to exercise his right again | Main photo: EFE

In the presidential elections in Venezuela on Sunday, July 28, voters must take into account certain conditions that can lead to a vote being invalid.

The Organic Law on Electoral Processes (Lopre) specifies that in cases where the process time is exceeded, votes may be invalid.

On the other hand, in the General Regulations of the Organic Law on Electoral Processes Article 313 establishes that the voter has six minutes to cast his vote.

“After the first three minutes have elapsed, without the voter having voted, the voting machine will emit a clearly audible bell to signal the expiration of half of the voting time, leaving three minutes for the voter to exercise his or her right to vote,” the text reads.

In which cases is a vote invalid?

The Lopre takes into account the cases in which the vote may be invalid in its articles 136 and 137, depending on whether the vote is manual or automated.

In automated voting, such as the presidential election on July 28, votes will be invalid when the following occur:

-The voter does not select any candidate.

-The time allowed to exercise your right expires

If a vote is spoiled, the receipt will appear blank to the voter and must be deposited in the ballot box. The person cannot repeat the process.

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How long did it take users to vote during the CNE simulation?

Regarding the time it may take voters to exercise their right to vote, the National Electoral Council (CNE) offered a balance on July 1 in which it specified how long it took voters to vote. drill they organized on Sunday, June 30.

According to statements by the president of the CNE, Elvis Amoroso, voters took an average of 38 seconds to vote using the automated machines.

“All technical, logistical and operational aspects established for the drill were met with the expected effectiveness,” said the rector.

The official also mentioned the participation of voters in the simulation, and stressed that the electoral body was able to verify the efficiency of the machines and the data transmission system.

EFE/ Rayner Peña R.

“We can say that the incidents were minimal. We had 2.29% of incidents in voting machines, 0.90% of incidents in the integral authentication system, and 0.70% of incidents in removable memory cards,” he said.

This simulation was attended by international observers from the Carter Center, the United Nations (UN) and the Council of Electoral Experts of Latin America (CEELA).

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