Venezuelan election official: ‘Lack of transparency’ in Maduro’s victory
MIAMI — A Venezuelan electoral official has denounced what he calls a “grave lack of transparency and veracity” in last month’s election results, rebuking authorities who declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner despite strong evidence to the contrary presented by his opponents and doubts from several foreign governments.
Juan Carlos Delpino is one of five members of the National Electoral Council, or CNE in Spanish, and the only one who prior to the vote had shown a willingness to go against the wishes of Maduro’s government.
On Monday, he published a letter on social media detailing several alleged irregularities before and on the day of the July 28 election. He said polling centers were slow to report results from automated voting machines while several opposition volunteers were banished, in violation of electoral rules guaranteeing the transparent transmission of tallies to CNE headquarters.
Delpino said he was informed that the hourslong delay was caused by a supposed hacking of the CNE platform and that only 58% of results had been collected. He said he decided in protest not to join his fellow rectors in monitoring the vote-counting from the CNE data hub or attending the midnight news conference when CNE President Elvis Amoroso, a ruling party loyalist, declared Maduro the winner.
“I deeply regret that the results don’t serve the Venezuelan people, that they don’t help resolve our differences or promote national unity but instead fuel doubts in the majority of Venezuelans and the international community,” Delpino wrote.
Delpino, an electoral expert close to one of Venezuela’s traditional opposition parties, was named to the CNE by the National Assembly controlled by Maduro’s allies last year after several predecessors were removed.
His letter comes as Maduro doubles down on assertions he won reelection by more than 1 million votes.
His government has defied calls from the U.S., European Union and even leftist allies from Brazil, Colombia and Mexico to release voting records that would back such claims.
Meanwhile, the opposition has published online what appear to be authentic tallies from 80% of polling machines showing that its candidate, Edmundo González, won by a more than 2-to-1 margin.