Colombian President Gustavo Petro has urged his ally, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, to release detailed vote counts following the weekend election. International criticism has been directed at Maduro and the National Electoral Council, as specific polling center-level results have not been made public, unlike in previous elections. Maduro’s rival Edmundo Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado believe if those figures were disclosed, they would demonstrate Maduro’s defeat in the election.
The Carter Center, an independent U.S.-based organization that assesses elections, expressed on Tuesday its inability to verify the results of Venezuela’s presidential election, highlighting a “complete lack of transparency” in declaring Maduro the winner without releasing individual polling tallies. Despite being authorized by Venezuela’s electoral authorities to send experts to observe the election, the Center’s 17 experts in four cities could not confirm the election results.
According to the Carter Center, the failure to announce disaggregated results by polling station is a significant violation of electoral principles, deeming the election as not meeting international standards and lacking democratic credibility.
