Venezuela elections lack transparency, not democratic: Carter Center

Statement by Atlanta-based group perhaps the harshest rebuke yet of Latin-American country's chaotic poll process

Caracas (Venezuela): The Carter Center said it was unable to verify the results of Venezuela‘s presidential election, blaming authorities for a “complete lack of transparency” in declaring Nicolas Maduro the winner without providing any individual polling tallies.

The statement by the Atlanta-based group is perhaps the harshest rebuke yet of Venezuela’s chaotic election process because it comes from one of just a handful of outside groups invited by the Maduro government to observe the vote.

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“The electoral authority’s failure to announce disaggregated results by polling station constitutes a serious breach of electoral principles,” the Carter Center said.

The group, which had a technical mission of 17 experts spread out in four cities across Venezuela, added that the election did not meet international standards and “cannot be considered democratic.”

The Carter Center’s harsh criticism capped a second long day of protests against the results by opponents of Maduro who said their candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, trounced the incumbent by a more than two-to-one margin.

Maduro’s government hasn’t taken lightly to the criticism and ratcheted up their attacks on their opponents Tuesday, with some allies suggesting the opposition’s most influential leader and a presidential candidate be arrested.

A day after Maduro was declared the winner by a National Electoral Council that is loyal to him and the ruling party, the attacks, which were aired on national television, followed the opposition’s surprise release of detailed voting data that it said shows that Edmundo González won by a landslide.

The electoral council has not released any results from the polling center level, which come from tally sheets that the more than 30,000 electronic voting machines print after polls close. It is not obligated to do so, but in previous elections it has posted the figures online within hours.

United States President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva spoke by phone and agreed that Venezuela must release the data, saying the election’s outcome “represents a critical moment for democracy in the hemisphere,” according to a White House summary of the call.

Biden and Lula “agreed on the need for immediate release of full, transparent, and detailed voting data at the polling station level by the Venezuelan electoral authorities,” it said.

Venezuela has the world’s largest proven crude reserves and once boasted Latin America’s most advanced economy, but it entered into free fall after Maduro took the helm in 2013. Plummeting oil prices, widespread shortages and hyperinflation that soared past 130,000% led to social unrest and mass emigration.

More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2014, the largest exodus in Latin America’s recent history.

As both sides defended their claim to victory, thousands of their supporters took to the streets of the capital, Caracas.

A huge crowd of opposition supporters gathered outside the United Nations’ offices. Opposition powerhouse Maria Corina Machado, standing atop a truck, called on the National Electoral Council to release the tally sheets, saying, “Why don’t they publish them?” Machado said the main opposition coalition has obtained more than 84% of the tally sheets, which show González garnered more than twice as many votes as Maduro.

“The only thing we are willing to negotiate is the peaceful transition,” Machado said, as the crowd chanted: “We have no fear!” Opposition supporters elsewhere in the city were met with tear gas Tuesday.

Attorney General Tarek William Saab told reporters that more than 700 protesters were arrested in nationwide demonstrations Monday. He added that one officer was killed.

Machado and González urged their supporters to remain calm and avoid violence.

“And remember this figure, when the tally sheets are counted, yours truly will have more than 8 million votes,” González said, flanked by his wife and Machado, whom Maduro’s government barred from running for political office for 15 years. “We are going to begin the reconstruction of Venezuela.”

Their celebration came hours after the Organization of American States lambasted the government for not releasing the data and suggested a new election that would be monitored by international observers.