Caracas Chronicles

As primaries and elections loom, @LuisCarlos Diaz’s in-depth, myth-busting interview with Smartmatic’s Rui Santos (@ElRui) is well worth an hour of your time.

Longtime readers know my view here: there’s a lot that’s wrong with the way elections are run in Venezuela, but little of it has to do with the e-voting system itself, which actually includes a series of redundancies and checks that make it, at a minimum, far safer than any possible manual option.

I realize that for a slice of public opinion – and of our readership – the idea that Smartmatic cheats is obviously sacrosanct: a revealed truth beyond the need for evidence or argument. I don’t suppose those people will get much from the interview – or even sit through it, actually.

For the rest of us, this is a good primer.