Politics

Live-Blogging 20M

We partnered with ODH to bring you a complete coverage of the 20M (un)election. Check out the news monitoring service ODH offers in odhgc.com.

Caracas Chronicles

10:35pm: Hora loca starts in 3… 2… 1

 

10:30pm: Results are in. With 92.6% of the ballots counted, Nicolás Maduro “won” the (un)election with 5,823,728 votes, followed by Henri Falcón with 1,820,552 and Javier Bertucci with 925,042 votes. Voter turnout totalled 46.01%.

 

10:19pm: Javier Bertucci could recognize Maduro’s victory… or maybe not.

 

9:56pm: Henri Falcón will not recognize the results and demands new elections.

 

9:50pm: Henri Falcón claims two crimes were committed today: violation of electoral regulations and the use of State resources for campaign purposes.

 

9:33pm: Reuters reported that, according to a CNE source, Venezuela presidential vote turnout was at 32.3 percent by 6pm

 

9:28pm: Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino López claims the (un)election was a “successful day” and that “Venezuela has triumphed”. Wink Wink.

 

9:21pm: Frente Amplio Venezuela Libre rejects any results to be announced by the CNE.

 

8:41pm: Apparently, a big stage is being installed in Miraflores.

 

8:25pm: According to Delcy Rodríguez, there are still some citizens outside of polling stations waiting to vote.

 

8:15pm: According to Delcy Rodríguez, abstention is today’s real loser. Massive eyeroll.

 

8:03pm: We just learned that @thelimagroup is not an official Lima Group account. Please disregard any information posted by that handle.

 

7:55pm: 50% of the results have supposedly been transmitted.

 

7:40pm: President Sebastian Piñera (also) thinks the (un)election is a scham and claims Chile won’t recognize the results.

 

6:50pm: Javier Bertucci denies reports that he’s dropping out from the race.

 

6:46pm: go and check out a special (un)election briefing by Naky Soto.

 

6:14pm: Lima Group says that turnout is less than 20%.

 

6:00pm: Henri Falcón’s chief economic advisor FRod calls his witnesses to stay in polling stations to defend the vote.

 

5:58pm: Henri Falcón’s campaign manager Enrique Ochoa Antich demands to CNE that polling station close at 6:00 pm as mandated by law:

 

5:52pm: Low turnout gives miembro de mesa a chance for catnap in Aragua state.

 

5:17pm: Low turnout in Ciudad Bolívar as well.

 

5:11pm: Reports from San Juan de los Morros, Guarico state, show empty poll stations throughout the city.

 

4:52pm: Newly-minted OFAC designated member Diosdado Cabello calls all Venezuelans (who will vote for Maduro) to mobilize and vote for the perfect finish.

 

4:42pm: Falcón’s running mate, perpetual presidential candidate Claudio Fermín, says that the irregularities in the voting process have intensified in the last few hours.

 

4:34pm: Candidate-pastor Javier Bertucci says turnout has been lower than expected.

 

4:28pm: Leaked audio from Carabobo state governor Rafael Lacava demanding supporters to rally voters to polling stations.

 

4:21pm: Venezuelans living in the southern cone protest against the (un)election.

 

4:05pm: According to AFP’s Alex Vásquez, sources from CNE estimate that voter turnout will total 40%.

 

3:45pm: Frente Amplio Venezuela Libre claims voter turnout has been substantially lower than in previous elections.

 

3:37pm: Voters claim they received less bolívars than promised for scanning their carnet de la patria at the puntos rojos before voting.

 

3:26pm: Maria Corina Machado denounced that State security officers kidnapped her driver at the door of her residence.

 

3:17pm: A few minutes ago, Maduro begged asked Venezuelans to go out and vote. We don’t believe in carómetros, but… 

 

 

3:10pm: In case you hadn’t seen this, the U.S. Secretary of State thinks the (un)elections are a sham.

 

3:08pm: according to Socorro Hernández, the puntos rojos are really far off compared to previous elections. So, apparently, the illegality of the puntos rojos is taken for granted and the problem is their location.

 

3:00pm: CONFIRMED – You can vote null if you want to. Just press all the options in the machine and not in the ballot and you’ll see the “NULO” in the screen. The press the “VOTAR” button and voilá.

 

2:26pm: Transparencia Venezuela: Use any of the channels to report irregularities, if you’re being forced to vote or asked to show the carnet de la patria.

Web: https://transparencia.org.ve/project/dilo-aqui/
E-mail: [email protected]
Android: https://goo.gl/mxt1JL
Iphone: https://goo.gl/8qqohG

 

2:00pm: Even though chavismo has resorted to the usual strategy to boost turnout, offering CLAP boxes and direct bonuses through the carnet de la patria in red stations, along with its trademark “Get out the vote” operation, reports of empty voting stations are prevalent across the country.

 

1:00pm: In Mérida, polling stations remain empty.

 

12:45pm: In Guarenas, some bakeries and small grocery stores have longer lines than most voter stations. Despite loud music, puntos rojos remain desolate. Photos: Javier Liendo.

 

12:18pm: Former President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, one of the government’s international allies who was invited to “validate” the May 20 vote, claims the voter turnout reached 30% by 10:10am. However, Carlos Ocariz reported a voter turnout of 12% by 10:30am, which is low compared to the 22% reported at the same time in previous elections.

 

12:15pm: Carlos Ocariz reported that (by 10:30am) 75% of voters had been mobilized in transport units paid by the government and that 85% of the monitored polling stations reported a punto rojo set up less than 200 meters.

 

11:55am: Henri Falcón claims puntos rojos were set up near the polling stations. Go figure!

 

11:25am: Voter turnout remains rather low.

 

11:00am: There is more people waiting in line to buy bread than to vote in Catia.

 

10:53am: Venezuelans living abroad protest against the (un)election.

https://twitter.com/Harley_Monse/status/998140227892936705

 

10:42am: Not a single person is waiting in line to vote in the Consulate of Venezuela in New York.

 

10:34am: According to Jorge Rodríguez, by 10am more than two and a half million Venezuelans had already voted.

 

10:11am: Maduro said the puntos tricolor -which are really red- would be set up, at least, 200 meters away from polling stations. Here you can see the entrance to the Andrés Bello Municipal School and the punto rojo at Plaza El Indio: They are separated by no more than 190 meters. Photos: Javier Liendo.

9:30am: A member of the Caracas Chronicles team reports that the center of Caracas is “empty”.  “There are more members of security forces than people” and there is more people in puntos rojos -red political points- than in the entrance of the polling stations.

 

9:04am: Henri Falcón’s electoral witnesses were denied entry into the IPASME polling station in Maracaibo.

 

8:50am: Transportation problems impact the beginning of the (un)election day in Caracas. 

 

8:31am: There seems to be “long” lines in some polling stations… to scan the Carnet de la Patria:

 

8:07am: Executive Vice President Tarek El Aissami says he has received reports of “asistencia masiva” -massive turnout- to the polling station. Twitter users beg to differ:

 

8am: We begin our coverage of the 20M (un)elections with the news that Maduro already voted.

https://twitter.com/PresidencialVen/status/998154222267961344

 

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