The NGO join He reported on his projections for the 2024 presidential elections in Venezuela. He claimed that almost 11,000,000 Venezuelans are in an electoral limbo due to inconsistencies in the Electoral Registry (RE).
Specifically, Súmate pointed out that they must register a total of 10,287,887 new voters. Of them, more than 30% (3,017,037) are citizens between 18 and 45 years of age who have never registered in the Electoral Registry. 10% (1,396,356) are young people who will turn 18 years old between April 2022 and December 2024, and approximately 4,500,000 Venezuelans are emigrants who left the country between 2013 and 2022 and have not had access to registration sessions in Venezuelan consulates or embassies because they do not serve them or simply do not meet the requirements of national legislation, such as having legal residence in another country.
The NGO referred to article 28 of the Organic Law of Electoral Processes, which establishes that the Electoral Registry must work 365 days a year so that people can register or update their data. However, they emphasize that the reality is that the Regional Electoral Offices (ORE) remain closed or without operations to serve the public.
What the experts say about inconsistencies in the Electoral Registry
The NGO referred to the considerations of several experts who point out that this problematic «political intention». All with the purpose of preventing new opposition voters from having the right to participate in the presidential 2024.
“There should be continuous registration points so that people can access the RE. We are talking about the fact that there are currently only 24 points in Venezuela, which are the OREs. Several registration points should be open at the headquarters of the National Electoral Council (CNE) in Caracas, but they are currently not working. In addition, there should be intermittent points in Civil Registry offices, but these are conspicuous by their absence, “said Nelida Sánchez, national coordinator of the Súmate Electoral Comptroller.
The Possible Scenario
Political rights defenders expressed their fear of repeating situations like those of previous elections in which the calls and the installation of points have been made at the wrong time, in insufficient quantities or in inaccessible areas to limit voters.
«For the November 2021 elections they enabled 700 points. The vast majority had a bias because they were located in social strata 5,6 and 7. That is, in areas where the population lives in extreme poverty who depend on a monthly CLAP bag of food and which are historically controlled communities by the PSUV to win elections. . And even in the specific case of Lara, the study carried out by Súmate a la CNE’s Twitter accounts revealed that director Lohengri Niño changed the registration points on a daily basis and as he pleased,” he said.
