The Venezuelan opposition will protect the identity of voters in the primaries to avoid reprisals from the regime

There Venezuelan opposition assured this Wednesday that protect the identity of voters that they participate in the primary elections in October, when the unitary candidate who will face Nicolás Maduro in the presidential elections of 2024 will be defined.

The organizers held a meeting with the authorities of the National Electoral Council (CNE), accused of serving chavismo, to assess possible assistance in this internal process.

“Citizens can be assured that in no case, no scenario, no hypothesis, their identity will be compromised. There is a commitment on our part to protect the identity of the voter. We want to transmit trust and security,” said the president of the primary commission, Jesus Maria Casal, at the end of the meeting.

“Our regulations establish that the identity of the voter must always be protected,” he insisted.

The possible participation of the CNE in the primaries would consist in empowering the voting centers and updating the electoral register. The use of voting machines is not yet defined.

That of the CNE is a crucial issue dividing the opposition amid widespread fear that the body could torpedo the process or seize data that could be used in favor of the government.

There The reputation of the CNE has been in doubt for years, especially after Smartmatic, the company responsible for voting in the Constituent Assembly in 2017, denounced manipulation of the results.

The Venezuelan opposition has not recognized the 2018 presidential election in which Maduro won re-election or the 2020 legislative elections, deeming them fraudulent.

For the October primaries, several opposition leaders have confirmed their candidacy: Juan Guaido, who for four years was recognized as president in charge of Venezuela by the United States and fifty other countries; the two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles and the boss Maria Corina Machadoof the most radical wing of the opposition.

Guaidó and Capriles face a disqualification measure that prevents them from exercising public functions, but the two leaders are betting on the negotiations started last year with the Mexican government to obtain their cancellation.

Negotiations have been stalled since November pending the disbursement of resources frozen by international sanctions against Maduro to deal with the humanitarian crisis.

The Venezuelan opposition and the National Electoral Council (CNE) installed this Wednesday a technical commission which will define the support that the electorate will give to the primaries.

“The formal act of installing this commission has taken place, and we have agreed to hold subsequent meetings, during which concrete proposals will be made,” said lawyer Jesús María Casal at the end of the meeting with CNE authorities.

He explained that the installed delegation will define the perimeter of the CNE during these elections, which will be decided “always on the basis of consultations” with the representatives of the opposition parties, some of which are against working with the electorate, qu they consider partial. and close to the ruling party.

Casal assured that participation of Venezuelans abroad -of which it has not been defined how this will be authorized- is controlled only by the CNP and, in this sense, they will guarantee respect for the rights and privacy of voters.

(With information from AFP and EFE)

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