2024-08-05 23:28:06
Check out the voting system, how many Venezuelans will be able to vote abroad, and who the candidates are in the elections this Sunday, July 28.
Las Venezuelan presidential elections will be carried out this Sunday, July 28where Nicolas Maduro will seek to continue his command for six more years.
The president has been in office for 11 years, a period marked by various accusations of political persecution of his opponents and the migration of Venezuelans to different Latin American countries.
In this weekend’s elections, Nicolás Maduro will have a tough opponent: Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who is the candidate of the majority opposition after the candidacy of María Corina Machado was disqualified.
The president who is elected this Sunday, will assume power on January 10, 2025, as determined by the Venezuelan Constitution.
Considering the above, we detail the keys and everything you need to know about the election process in Venezuela.
How many Venezuelans are eligible to vote both within the country and abroad?
The total number of Venezuelans over 18 years of age eligible to vote in these elections is 21.392.464. However, it is estimated that 4.5 million people will not be able to cast their vote because they will be out of the country.
On paper, it could be estimated that the Voting abroad would have a fundamental role in removing Nicolás Maduro from office. However, they will only be able to participate 69 thousand of the almost eight million Venezuelan migrants and refugees in the world.
In fact, only 2,659 of 450,000 Venezuelans with legal residence in Chile will be able to vote in his country’s elections on Sunday
Regarding voting hours, polling stations will open at 6:00 a.m. (local and Chilean time) and will be available until 6:00 p.m.
Who are the candidates who will compete against Nicolás Maduro in the Venezuelan elections?
There will be 10 candidates on the ballot this Sunday, July 28. But the main contenders are two: Nicolás Maduro (re-election) and the opposition member Edmundo González Urrutia.
The other candidates are: Enrique Marquez, Antonio Ecarri, Daniel Ceballos, Luis Eduardo Martinez, Javier Bertucci, Benjamin Rausseo, Claudio Fermin and Jose Brito.
How does the voting system work and why could it prevent electoral fraud in Venezuela?
The National Electoral Council (CNE) has an automated voting system, which prevents any type of fraud.
Each voter must present his or her laminated identity card to the polling station members so that his or her data can be verified and entered into the Comprehensive Authentication System.
After that, you must insert your thumb to capture your fingerprint. Then, you go to the voting machine, which after being activated, gives you three minutes to select the candidate of your choice on the digital ballot.
Once this is done, The machine will print certificates before sending them to the CNE. Finally, you must sign and stamp your fingerprint in the voting booklet.
This makes the likelihood of fraud difficult, since once the president of the table closes the voting, the machines print a ballot paper that has a QR code. In this way, people will be able to capture the code to have control of the result, whose data can be contrast with those announced by the electoral authorities.