VENEZUELANALYSIS.COM | October 15, 2017
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The PSUV won 54 percent of the total vote, marking a significant recovery since the ruling party’s landslide defeat in 2015 parliamentary elections when it garnered only 43.7 percent of the vote. Opposition cries fraud…
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Chavistas Take 17 of 23 States in Venezuelan Regional Elections as Opposition Cries Fraud https://d7.venezuelanalysis.com/5uBx
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The MUD holds press conference to formalize their allegations of fraud after having lost in to the PSUV in at least 17 of 23 states. Complaints relocation of polling stations and lack of candidate substitution. Campaign manager, George Blyde demands for full audit and calls for street action.
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MUD officially calls fraud in press conference. Campaign manager, George Byde demands full audit and calls to take to the streets.
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The opposition has yet to react to the results, but it looks likely the coalition will challenge the results, and potentially accuse the CNE of fraud.
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MUD spokesperson says coalition has “strong suspicions” over CNE results. Will they cry fraud?
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No official reaction frm opposition leaders yet. Press conference expected shortly.
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Venezuelan President’s reaction to regional election results…
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#Venezuelan President asks for full audit of paper votes http://www.laiguana.tv/articulos/71321-maduro-cne-auditoria-papeletas-electorales …
Maduro al CNE: pide realizar 100% de la auditoría a papeletas electorales
Maduro al CNE: pide realizar 100% de la auditoría a papeletas electorales
laiguana.tv
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Venezuelan President says that “Venezuelan people have achieved the triumph of peace and democracy through the vote” https://twitter.com/NicolasMaduro/status/919750472625414144 …
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Results are coming in for Venezuela’s regional elections…
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PSUV’s biggest wins were in rural states of Guarico & Portuguesa – with over 60% of the vote.
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Opposition Democratic Action Party took 4/5 of opposition won states: Anzoategui, Nueva Esparta, Merida & Tachira. First Justice took Zulia.
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List of results as they come out…
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Results of Venezuela’s regional elections:United Socialist Party won 17 governorships, MUD opposition coalition won 5, 1 state still pending
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– @tibisay_lucena about to announce results of regional elections. Participation was “unexpectedly” high at 61.14%.
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Though nobody has disputed the transparency of today’s electoral process, the opposition has accused the CNE of fraud on several occasions, including in the July 30 ANC elections and the presidential elections of 2013. Libertador Mayor and leading voice of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, Jorge Rodriguez, has asked the opposition to vow to respect the results.
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Libertador Mayor for Socialist party says gov’t will recognise the results of today’s regionals, & asks the opposition to do the same. https://twitter.com/la_iguanatv/status/919723819098673153 …
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Here is a full list of voting centres relocated by the CNE by state. The opposition has claimed the relocation was a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise opposition voters. But the CNE says that it was a necessary measure after more than 200 voting centres were violently attacked by opposition supporters trying to sabotage the National Assembly Elections, held on July 30th. It says that opposition voters were able to vote in alternative voting centres nearby.
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A list of voting centres across the country that were relocated by the CNE in the run-up to regional elections due to safety concerns. https://twitter.com/CNEesVenezuela/status/919701924898791424 …
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Some testimonies from Catia La Mar in Vargas state, where the VA team visited this afternoon. It’s probably one of the most Chavista states in Venezuela.
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While opposition needs social media 2mobilise supporters, Chavismo is grassroots effort. Rogmar Gomez:our communal council drove ppl to vote
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Rosangela Alaya on support4gov’t:we want what every1 wants,food,security,bt they are part of political program being built by national gov’t
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José Correa Coordinator of Community Radio Urimare, Vargas.”We’re giving an example of civility to US imperialism…Vote is free & in peace”
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Hugo Chavez Residences: 3080 apartments built for 17,000 ppl by gov’t.It was hard to find an opposition voter.
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Opposition National Assembly President Julio Borges also urged people to vote before electoral centres close during a press conference.
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Opposition leader @JulioBorges calls on supporters 2go & vote – suggesting opp turnout might not be as they hoped http://bit.ly/2yqApt4
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5.30pm. Henrique Capriles claims voter participation is down between 4-5 percent when compared to the 2015 National Assembly elections.
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“What they are looking for is to promote abstention, but we must overcome this obstacle to end the economic crisis,” Capriles said.
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-Opposition leader @hcapriles estimated at2pm that opp down by 4-5% on their turnout 4 legislative elections in 2015 http://bit.ly/2xHirTX
Capriles: Estamos 4 o 5 puntos por debajo de las parlamentarias del 2015
El gobernador saliente del estado Miranda se mostró optimista y llamó a la gente a votar
efectococuyo.com
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Salvadoran electoral observer Delmy Carolina Vasquez Alas, a regional leader at the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), talks to VA on Venezuela’s regional vote today.
“We have been able to review four electoral centres. We could see that the voting machines were installed with no problems, and the electoral witnesses from both of the main parties here were introduced to us and present in all four centres. We also witnessed how two voting machines experienced a fault in one centre but were efficiently replaced. We could speak to voters and hear that people are calm and that they trust in this process, they know that it is fast and efficient,” she said.
Vasquez also added that the turnout appeared to be high.
“If I were to compare this electoral process to the process in El Salvador, well we still have a manual system which is slower and more difficult, not just in emitting the vote, but also in the vote count to give the results to the population… This automatic process in which the voting card is emitted electronically and gives a confirmation slip, I think it is a very good, useful tool, which makes the process more agile,” she stated.
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Delmy Carolina Vasquez Alas from FMLN Speaks to VA on Venezuelan Regional Elections
Salvadoran electoral observer Delmy Carolina Vasquez Alas, a regional leader at the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), talks to VA on Venezuela’s regional vote today. “We have been able to review four electoral centres. We could see that the voting machines were installed with no problems, and the electoral witnesses from both of the main parties here were introduced to us and present in all four centres. We also witnessed how two voting machines experienced a fault in one centre but were efficiently replaced. We could speak to voters and here that people are calm and that they trust in this process, they know that it is fast and efficient,” she said. Vasquez also added that the turnout appeared to be high. “From what we could see, people kept arriving”. “If I were to compare this electoral process to the process in El Salvador, well we still have a manual system which is slower and more difficult, not just in emitting the vote, but also in the vote count to give the results to the population… This automatic process in which the voting card is emitted electronically and gives a confirmation slip, I think it is a very good, useful tool, which makes the process more agile,” she said. -
Paraguayan academic and electoral observer Guillermo Sequera Netto discusses his impressions of Venezuela’s regional vote on October 15.
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Paraguayan Electoral Observer Guillermo Sequera Netto on Venezuela’s Regional Vote
Paraguayan academic and electoral observer Guillermo Sequera Netto discusses his impressions of Venezuela’s regional vote on October 15. “We’re here accompanying the electoral process of Venezuela with the final goal to profoundly understand, observe and comprehend,” he said, explaining the importance of the elections as a collective, social act. “This is a process of the citizens,” he said. -
The latest installment from VA’s Lucas Koerner in Vargas state.
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The VA team is now reporting from Vargas state, where they say social activists are sure of a #Chavista win tonight. #VenezuelaDecides
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4.29pm. Former president Hugo Chavez’s mother Doña Helena Frias de Chavez casts her vote.
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Here is Doña Helena Frías de Chávez, the mother of President Hugo Chávez voting today in Venezuela’s regional elections for state governors.
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A contrast of two voting centres:
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While most voting centres are managing to provide a rapid & efficient experience, some are reporting significant queues. https://twitter.com/HectorAntolinez/status/919643376059904002 …
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Fast. Effective. Democratic. @telesurenglish @telesurtv
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3.15pm: Venezuelan media is reporting voting stopped for at least an hour at a station in Maracaibo this morning, after a voter allegedly ripped up her ballot. Voting has since resumed, but the woman was reportedly detained.
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“We do not know if it was because of nerves, or whatever circumstance made her break her ballot, but this is an electoral crime,” said army general Tito Urbano.
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A Venezuelan voter complains that she was “forced” to go to a working class area to cast her vote, in relation to the centres relocated by the National Electoral Council. Venezuelan grassroots media have been circulating the video as an example of the opposition’s classism.
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#Vzlan voter complains she was forced 2vote in barrio, & not middle class area. Crux of the relocation issue: it’s abt class, not democracy https://twitter.com/la_iguanatv/status/919633804549132289 …
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2.40pm. CNE head Tibisay Lucena says almost all polling stations did open on time this morning, said CNE worked to resolve issues in some areas quickly.
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#ENVIVO | Tibisay Lucena: Hasta el momento las elecciones se desarrollan con normalidad http://bit.ly/teleSUR #VenezuelaDecide
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Some photos supplied by Pablo Navarrete from his experiences in Tachira this morning.
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Voters queue at 3 esquinas centre, Kapacho Nuevo, Tachira. All running smoothly there. Photo via @pablonav1#VenezuelaDecides
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Accredited national observers told @pablonav1 that they had seen no issues w/ Vzla’s voting system in today’s regional elections.
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2.00pm – VA spoke to UK-Chilean documentary-maker Pablo Navarrete, who is currently in Venezuela monitoring today’s elections as part of an international observation team. During his (very brief) lunch break, we were able to ask him about his experience so far. He reported that the elections have taken place very calmly and with apparent high levels of participation. He also said that opposition electoral witnesses informed him that they had seen no issues they wished to report.
“There is so much effort that goes into ensuring that Venezuelans have the right to vote. I feel that the expositions by the CNE regarding the technology and the accountability of the vote, seem to me, especially coming from England, which has such an archaic and non-transparent system which is open to fraud… I will leave Venezuela with full confidence in the electoral system that has been so attacked abroad in the international media”.
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UK-Chilean Journalist Pablo Navarrete On Venezuela’s Regional Elections
UK-Chilean documentary-maker Pablo Navarrete spoke to Venezuelanalysis on his impressions of Venezuela’s regional elections this Sunday as an official international observer in the state of Tachira. -
1.10pm. Libertador Mayor Jorge Rodriguez: Governor elections taking place with total normality.
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Comando de Campaña Zamora 200: Elecciones de gobernadores transcurren con total normalidad http://ow.ly/2T9q30fSWPO #HoyVotamosPorLaPatria
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1.00pm. In today’s elections, Venezuelans will choose twenty-three state governors. In the last elections of 2012, the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela almost took a clean sweep, winning twenty out of twenty-three. However, since then the government’s popularity has suffered, following the death of President Hugo Chavez in 2013 and a deep economic crisis from 2014 onwards. The opposition is expected to make gains this Sunday, but the question is by how much? Though some observers have predicted that the MUD coalition could take up to 18 governorships, others have highlighted that the government has clawed back momentum since the National Constituent Assembly elections in July, while the opposition risks voter abstention amongst its ranks due to internal divisions over strategy.
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#VenezuelaDecides in regional elections 2 choose 23 state governors 2day-the ruling socialist party won 20/23 states in last elections in’12
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In the rest of the country, voting also appears to be proceeding smoothly.
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Voting also taking place w/out incident in Anzoategui – Ppl queue outside Libertador school voting centre
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Attorney General Tarek William Saab votes during Venezuela’s regional elections. On Twitter, Saab said the vote was “for peace” echoing statements of many other government politicians and supporters. The country suffered four months of violent anti-government protest between April-July, leading to more than a hundred deaths.
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“A vote for the national gov’t is a vote for peace”- is the campaign angle of ruling socialist party. Attorney General casts his vote below. https://twitter.com/TarekWiliamSaab/status/919601799711133697 …
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National Electoral Council President Tibisay Lucena confirmed that almost 95% of voting machines were working by 7.44am this morning.
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CNE president confirms almost 95% of voting machines were operative in 13,559 centres across Vzla’s 23 states by 7.44 this morning.
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Venezuela’s opposition coalition [MUD] has called for the immediate expulsion of Nicaraguan electoral fraud experts, claiming that they are responsible for the relocation of more than 270 voting centres. Venezuela’s National Electoral Council announced the relocation of the voting centres after opposition supporters attacked and vandalised many during July’s National Constituent Assembly elections. The national government has stated that up to 2 million people were prevented from voting because of the violence. It is unclear how the relocation of the voting centres and the arrival of the Nicaraguan electoral team are linked. The MUD has called on the Organization of American States for assistance in the matter.
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Vzla’s opposition calls 4 expulsion of #Nicaraguan electoral observers, blaming them 4 relocation of voting centres. http://bit.ly/2gI1kXH
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Venezuelans take the metro – many of them will be headed to vote in today’s regional elections.
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Venezuela’s metro in Caracas and Los Teques is free this Sunday to help people go and vote. A strange dictatorship. #VenezuelaDecides https://twitter.com/correoorinoco/status/919586276977860608 …
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Venezuelan Communication Minister says that today’s vote shows that the country is anything but a “dictatorship”. #VenezuelaDecides https://twitter.com/VillegasPoljak/status/919580522308829184 …
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The Venezuelan government has criticised the lack of coverage of its latest elections.
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Venezuelan Communication Minister says that today’s vote shows that the country is anything but a “dictatorship”. #VenezuelaDecides https://twitter.com/VillegasPoljak/status/919580522308829184 …
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US human rights & labour lawyer Dan Kovalik tweets his experiences monitoring Venezuela’s elections.
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Voting place in Miranda Department. Notice the car battery as back-up in case of electrical failure.
US human rights & labor lawyer Dav Kovalik is 1 of international observers monitoring #Venezuelan regional elections today #Venezueladecides https://twitter.com/danielmkovalik/status/919572151707070464 …
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An opposition voter told VA that the country needed change to move beyond the economic difficulties of the last few years. Nonetheless, he stated that a change in government could only be achieved through elections, and voiced his rejection of the violent opposition protests which took place between April and July this year. He was accompanied to the voting centre by a Chavista friend.
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Jacinto Ochoa said he doesnt support violent protest bt that Vzla “needs change”.He’ll vote 4 opposition candidate Carlos Ocariz in Miranda
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VA spoke to Naismar Martinez, the opposition’s electoral witness for the Coeco voting centre in 5 de Julio, Petare. She said that the voting process was running smoothly with no irregularities. She also told VA that approximately 100+ people had cast their votes at the booth she is monitoring. The opposition Roundtable of Democratic Unity and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela have an equal number of witnesses monitoring the voting process to make sure it is transparent. More than 1200 witnesses have been sent to different voting centres across the country.
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Naismar Martínez,electoral witness for opposition at Coeco centre in Petare, confirmed no irregularities at all in voting process.
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VA’s Lucas Koerner reports from Petare at 9.30am after having spoken to pro-government and opposition voters, as well as electoral witnesses and voting centre facilitators.
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Another report from VA’s @lm_koerner, this time from Petare, 5 de Julio. VA team spoke to pro-gov’t & opp supporters, here’s what they said:
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Initial reports suggest that Chavista turnout is greater than during 2015 National Assembly elections.
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Soraira Aponte voter&member of Community Council July 5 Patriots says electorate is motivated & there is special assistance 4 elderly voters
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Former presidential candidate and leader of the rightwing First Justice party Henrique Capriles Radonski takes to Twitter calling on opposition supporters to make sure they cast their votes.
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Vzlan opposition leader urges his supporters to vote-opposition has been worried that its base won’t turn out in numbers needed on the day. https://twitter.com/hcapriles/status/919548682265034752 …
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A view from the ground in Petare, east Caracas.
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The current atmosphere in Petare as Venezuela’s regional elections get underway.
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Citizens wait to vote in Petare, 5 de Julio. #VenezuelaDecides
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The main enemy for both Chavismo and the opposition is abstentionism in this election.
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In 2015 legislative elections, Chavismo lost around 1.5million votes due to abstentionism. Mobilising its base will be key today.
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Carmen Bello in Petare says that Chavismo “will turn out 100% today” #VenezuelaDecides
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8.55am – Miranda state is made up of pro-opposition middle class areas like Chacao, but also extremely working class areas such as Petare – one of the biggest barrios in Latin America. This governorship has traditionally been a hard-fought battle between the opposition and national government. Though the state is currently under the control of the opposition, Chavistas believe there is a good chance they could win the state this Sunday. The United Socialist Party of Venezuela is standing Hector Rodriguez, one of its strongest and most popular politicians as candidate.
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“There are 122voting machines & 27voting centres functioning in opposition stronghold of Chacao”-electoral witness & activist Jesus Garcia.
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VA’s @lm_koerner reports on #Venezuela‘s regional elections so far from a housing occupation in #Chacao. #VenezuelaDecides
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7.45am – First report to come through from the National Electoral Council President, Tibisay Lucena. She says that 50% of voting centres were open nationally by 6.20am. This ranges from state to state, from 83% open in Nueva Esparta, to 28% and 60% in the more rural states Bolivar and Amazonas respectively. Lucena also highlighted that there are more than 1200 Venezuelan electoral observers deployed throughout the country, and more than 70 international observers.
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Venezuela’s famous “Toque de Diana”! Horns playing & fire-works going off at 6am are to remind people to vote! This is Vargas state. https://twitter.com/ccterminalcatia/status/919504376519110656 …
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Here Eduardo José Bolivar, housing rights activist, tells VA’s @lm_koerner that he thinks Chavistas will turn out en masse 2vote in Chacao
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We’re beginning our rolling coverage of #Venezuela‘s regional elections this morning from Chacao – an opposition stronghold.
SOURCE: https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13431
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Journal of People 