[Polititics] presidential elections in Venezuela without date

[Mr.Daniel]

It is planned that, between July and December, that is, in the second half of 2024, there will be presidential elections in Venezuela, as agreed in October in Barbados by the delegations of the Government of Nicolás Maduro and the opposition. However, there is no exact date for these elections and no electoral schedule, which has become a demand from opposition groups that ask the National Electoral Council to clarify these points.

The opposition leader of Voluntad Po[CENSORED]r, Juan Guaidó, through his social networks joined the voices that ask to define the schedule of the elections, placing as a reference six other countries in America that will have presidential elections this year and that already have a defined date. : El Salvador (February 4), Panama (May 5), Dominican Republic (May 19), Mexico (June 2), Uruguay (October 27) and the United States (November 5).

The Primero Justicia party also spoke at a press conference this Tuesday on the issue. “There is an atmosphere of uncertainty among citizens due to the limited information provided by the competent entities,” said leader Angel Medina, representing the organization.

CNN contacted the National Electoral Council for comment on the issue, but has not received a response so far.

Eugenio Martínez, member of the Electoral Transparency Council of electoral experts and expert journalist with 26 years of work in the area, told CNN that “unfortunately, Venezuelan electoral legislation does not specifically establish the moment in which an election must be held.” Martínez gives as an example the 2018 presidential elections held in May, although the beginning of the constitutional period, that is, the inauguration, takes place on January 10 of the following year, as established in the Magna Carta. For the most part, elections in Venezuela have been held in December.

But in addition to a schedule for the polls, the opposition demands improvements in electoral conditions with the support of calls from the United States and countries of the European Union.

For Martínez, an early announcement of the date could make the possibility of complying with political and electoral guarantees more complex, including those agreed in Barbados under the mediation of Norway. In this sense, the director of the Votoscopio information portal also presents as an example the case of international observers who, despite the fact that the National Electoral Council met with representatives of the Carter Center in November 2023, have not yet been publicly informed if it has been formalized. the invitation of this entity as a supervisor.

In response to CNN's query, the Carter Center assured that it has not received any communication from the CNE about a possible invitation for the presidential election in 2024. CNN contacted the CNE to find out if the process has advanced privately and has not obtained response so far.

In the case of the European Union, the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez, warned in November that they will not allow a delegation to participate as an observer of the process while the bloc maintains sanctions on the Maduro government.

In order for these organizations to observe an electoral process, according to their rules, they must begin their work well in advance of the election date. This implies in some cases, and depending on the scope, starting the mission up to six months before the date and this will depend on whether the observation is complete or only focused on one phase of the electoral process.

The Barbados agreement establishes that the Carter Center and the European Union have to be observers of the process, Martínez recalled.

Regarding the updating of the electoral registry, which is a demand of the opposition, it must close several months before the election, according to the expert. For example, Martínez explains, if the presidential election were called in July, the electoral registry would have to close in February, although he explains that there are no specific times for these deadlines in Venezuelan electoral legislation.

According to the non-governmental organization Súmate, which ensures electoral transparency, around 3 million Venezuelans of voting age are not registered in the CNE and at least 2 million must update their information to be able to exercise their right to vote.

Martínez estimates that, if the election date is too soon, expatriated Venezuelans will hardly be able to register to vote.

All the dates of the Venezuelan electoral schedule are conditioned by the discretion with which they can be defined by the National Electoral Council, which ultimately responds to the interests of the Maduro Government.

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