 |
| Image: Reuters |
Venezuela’s system automates all stages of the election, from biometric voter authentication, to voting, results transmission, tallying and results publication. The system has been deemed reliable by important observation organizations such as the Carter Center and the European Union.
Weeks
before the election, a report
published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral
Assistance stated that "the strength of the Venezuelan electoral process
lies in the automated voting and vote-counting system". Meanwhile, Leonel Fernandez, head
of the observation mission from UNASUR
said in his post-election balance that "The Venezuelan voting system is
solid and safe."
One of
the most important attributes of the technology used in Venezuela is its high
level of auditability. Before, during and after the election, technicians from
participating political parties, independent auditors and electoral authorities
review the system thoroughly.
In
addition, during the night of
the election a public audit was performed to compare the printed vote receipts
against the precinct counts issued by more than 50% of the voting machines. No
significant issues were found.
On
Sunday night the official results of 96% of the seats in contention
were published, and they were accepted by all political parties without
exception.
1,799
candidates were competing for the 167 seats that constitute the parliament.
This was a heavy contested election, where few votes made the difference to declare
the winners. For example, in Aragua, a state in the central region, one
parliament seat was decided by only 83 votes, a difference of only 0.06%.
