In Keys | How the primaries on October 22 and voting abroad will work

The primaries of the Unitary Platform, which bring together a part of the opposition, already have a series of regulations to settle doubts about voting abroad, the requirements to vote inside and outside the country, as well as the publication of the results

The National Commission for Primary (CNP) published on May 7 the six regulations that will govern these elections, where the Unitary Platform hopes to choose a candidate to represent them in the 2024 presidential elections.

Documents they contain everything from the administrative procedures for the registration, substitution or adhesion of supporters to a candidacy to the voting process itself, inside and outside the country.

The primary regulations open the possibility of using a dual system —manual or automated— on voting day (October 22) depending on whether the logistical support of the National Electoral Council is achieved.

If there are problems with the voting machines on the day of the election, if there is support from the CNE, it will be possible to go to manual voting when the National Primary Commission decides.

The National Primary Election Commission publishes, this Sunday, May 7, the complementary Regulations for the Primary Election. Instruments that set the rules of the democratic game in the election of a unitary candidate for 2024. #22Oct https://t.co/EisphASgmD

— VE National Primary Commission (@cnprimariave) May 8, 2023

The electoral campaign for the primaries will take place between August 22 and October 20. The Commission “may require candidates to submit, under oath and in writing, a periodic report of the financial resources they receive” for advertising.

Within the country, those Venezuelans over 18 years of age and who appear registered in the Electoral Registry approved by the National Primary Commission may vote. On the day of the vote, the identity card will be requested, it does not matter if it is expired.

Voters abroad, in addition to being registered in the Electoral Registry approved by the CNP and having updated their data if necessary, must present their identity card or, failing that, the original Venezuelan passport (valid or not) where state the ID number.

How do you vote within the country?

Each voter may vote “only once for the name and surname of the candidate of their choice.” Probably the emblems or colors of the political parties will not be reflected on the ballot.

Voting will begin at 8:00 am on October 22 and will end at 4:00 pm, if the center does not have voters in line. The CNP reserves the power to extend the hours to pay.

Primaries and voting abroad

Voting abroad will be manual. The electoral centers will be enabled in a number of cities chosen by the CNP, although the president of the Commission, Jesús María Casal, already indicated that 70 cities were selected, distributed in 21 countries, which concentrate the largest number of Venezuelans.

Only the 107,000 Venezuelans who are registered in the Electoral Registry to vote abroad will be able to participate.

In addition, “those Venezuelans who are in the RE may vote, but those who have not been able to update their address to vote abroad, our technicians estimate that more than three million Venezuelans are in this situation,” said Jesús María Casal. , president of the Commission.

How to update the data to vote abroad?

If a person is registered in the Electoral Registry to vote in Venezuela and is not in the country, the National Commission for Primary Education will have an application -which will be enabled in the coming days- to update the data.

The Commission has said that this platform will have all the information security and data verification methods required to prevent leaks. For the validation process, personal information, address, as well as date of birth, identity document and a photograph will be requested.

Can a vote be annulled?

Yes. The parameters for considering a null vote depend on whether automated or manual voting is implemented in the primary.

In the case of automated voting, the vote is considered void if a candidate is not elected. The vote will be null and void if the person does not choose their candidate in the scheduled time.

If the vote is manual, a null vote will be considered if the voter marks outside of the options, if his choice is impossible to determine, or if he does not mark any option on the ballot.

It will also be qualified as invalid if the voter marks two candidate options, if the ballot is mutilated or partially destroyed and prevents the vote from being determined.