A Venezuelan electoral official has spoken out against what he perceives as a significant lack of transparency in the recent presidential election, where Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner despite indications that the main opposition candidate had a clear lead. Juan Carlos Delpino, a member of the National Electoral Council, raised concerns about irregularities before and during the July 28 election. He mentioned delays in reporting results from automated voting machines and the expulsion of opposition volunteers, violating rules that ensure the transparent transmission of results to CNE headquarters.

These alleged irregularities led to a hours-long delay in the vote-counting process, reportedly due to a purported hacking incident on the CNE platform. Delpino opted not to participate in monitoring the vote-counting or attend the press conference where Maduro was declared the victor. He expressed disappointment that the election results were causing doubts among Venezuelans and the international community, rather than fostering unity.

Maduro has continued to assert his victory by over 1 million votes, despite calls from the U.S., European Union, and other countries to release voting records supporting his claim. Meanwhile, the opposition has released supposed tallies from 80% of polling machines indicating their candidate, Edmundo González, won by a significant margin.

The Venezuelan Supreme Court has certified Maduro’s victory and accused the opposition of forging online voting records. González has been summoned for a criminal investigation related to challenging the election results, leading him and his supporter, Maria Corina Machado, to go into hiding as security forces arrested thousands and cracked down on protests across the country.

Delpino, in an interview with The New York Times, revealed that he too had gone into hiding. He highlighted several irregular decisions by the CNE, including insufficient meetings before the election that made it challenging to establish clear rules for campaign poll workers, international observers, and millions of Venezuelan expatriates.