An electoral system is part of each society’s evolution, which is materialized in the political agreement reflected in its laws.

The complexities of passions and intrigues surrounding the Venezuelan presidential elections have sparked a flurry of activity involving journalists, electoral experts, politicians, academics, and social leaders.

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With or without the right tools, content creators are also digging into the legality of the process, the technical-electoral details, and the geopolitical implications. Not to mention the diplomatic outbursts caught on open microphones.

In short, it’s a premeditated mix designed to heat up social media, front pages, editorials, and newscasts of major media outlets. Some positions are constructive, but many are tainted by prejudice and polarization based on ideological leanings or simple misinformation. At the heart of the dispute lie significant foreign interests in the vast oil and natural resources of this beautiful country.

In each country, the electoral system is unique, shaped by its own history and particularities. Therefore, there are no exact copies; instead, the sovereignty of each state must be respected. The electoral system is part of each society’s democratic evolution, materialized in the political agreement reflected in the constitutional and legal framework. These rules are the product of the political correlation within society at a given time.

Under these rules, and by prior agreement, the international community implements electoral observation or technical accompaniment missions that contribute with recommendations on good practices and better electoral standards suggested to electoral institutions, which they can adapt to their conditions.

1. See how the US uses mercenaries to:
1-Betray the Armed Forces of their own country.
2- Hand over the Venezuelan territory stolen by the British Empire.
3- Beg the Southern Command to support Guyana against Venezuela.
4-Destroy the 28 July elections.
The struggle is between… pic.twitter.com/rgeKr2nE5k

— Samuel Moncada (@SMoncada_eng) May 18, 2024

International electoral observation is defined by principles approved in various United Nations resolutions, but its implementation is not standardized, nor is its application widespread. Many countries with greater political and economic power reject the implementation of this figure, not including it in their legislation, even though they also face electoral deficiencies.

At times, hegemonic countries use observation missions as a tool of interventionist political pressure to “certify” or “validate” electoral results, violating the sovereignty of other states.

In Venezuela, the “Organic Law of Electoral Processes” regulates the procedures to be followed during elections. Regarding the scrutiny and handling of records, it does not mandate official publication. It is under these rules, and the Norway-mediated Barbados political agreement on political rights and electoral guarantees, that the Venezuelan opposition accepted the rules of this electoral process.

Among the electoral guarantees are 17 exhaustive audits in which all contesting parties appoint specialized auditors of their trust, technicians/statisticians with solid knowledge of computer science or programming in SQL languages, Statistical Analysis, Biometrics, .Net Framework 4.0, XML, and JSON. Many of them had experience from previous electoral processes.

These audits include: the voting machine software, configuration files, vote tallying software, machine hardware, machine production, electoral infrastructure, machine dispatch, resetting at tallying centers, communications platform for transmitting results, citizen identification registry, electoral register, including biometric data, fingerprints and voter photographs, electoral rolls (polling station registers), and selection of polling station members.

The US has been trying to delegitimize the Venezuelan presidential elections for weeks.

The Venezuelans we are interviewing say their elections are fair, transparent & open to outside observers.

BT’s @RaniaKhalek reports from a polling station in Caracas: pic.twitter.com/i91BjqIsWs

— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) July 28, 2024

The process is managed by polling station members rigorously selected through an audited draw. Party witnesses (observers) are present and vigilant. In the end, during the scrutiny, voters who wish to do so can also be present, with the only limitation being the physical space of the classroom, This is open to national or international observers.

Upon entering the “voting horseshoe,” each citizen is verified by checking their document, fingerprint, and photograph. When voting on the machine, the voter verifies that their electronic vote matches the physical receipt (just like any ATM transaction), deposits it accordingly in the ballot box, and records their signature and fingerprint in the respective register.

The electronic system includes the guarantee of an exhaustive on-site audit of 54 percent of the records from the 30,026 voting machines, comparing them with the physical receipts generated by the machine, which were deposited and rigorously safeguarded throughout the day. Each witness demands and receives a copy of the record with the vote tally and signatures of those responsible.

Ultimately, it is the citizen-centric, 100 percent automated nature of the process, with exhaustive audits, that certifies the quality and transparency of this electoral process, which is considered one of the best in our America. Among the proposed reforms is the suggestion to make the publication of scrutiny records institutionally mandatory.

The complexities are ideological, media-driven, and above all, political, which can only be resolved through a genuine process of sovereign dialogue among Venezuelans until peace is achieved.

EN ESTA NOTA:

The opinions expressed in this section do not necessarily represent those of teleSUR