Opposition primary elections must overcome logistical barriers and legal threats

Upon completing the registration of candidates for the October 22 opposition primary elections, the organizers of the event must overcome logistical challenges and face legal threats in order to hold the event.

Fourteen candidates were preliminarily registered. However, until July 23 there is an opportunity to change these nominations, and to record the change in the voting instruments.

For the next few weeks, Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT) party will probably agree on supporting other candidates nominated by parties that are part of the so-called G4. As it is widely known, UNT did not formally registered Zulia Governor Manuel Rosales, pending agreements and consensus with other candidates. Instead, the organization registered its ideological secretary José Rafael Hernández, who will be replaced depending on the agreements that the organization may reach in the following weeks.

These agreements will provide the basis of a possible consensus to elect a single candidate among the Unitary Platform forces in the event that primary elections are not held. The candidates admitted are:

• Andrés Caleca (Independent)
• Andrés Velásquez (La Causa R)
• Carlos Prosperi (Acción Democrática)
• César Almeida (UPP 89)
• César Pérez Vivas (Concertación Ciudadana) • Delsa Solórzano (Encuentro Ciudadano)
• Freddy Superlano (Voluntad Popular)
• Gloria Pinhc (Independiente)
• Henrique Capriles (Primero Justicia)
• José Hernández (Un Nuevo Tiempo)
Luis Farías (Independiente)
• María Corina Machado (Vente Venezuela)
• Roberto Enríquez (Copei)
• Tamara Adrián (Independiente)

Logistical Challenges
Without the participation of the National Electoral Council (CNE) it is significantly less likely that the opposition will be allowed to use the educational institutions traditionally used as polling stations for primary elections.

Therefore, the committee has given itself a period of six weeks (at the time of closing this report, five weeks remain) to find public or private locations that can be used as polling stations.

This task is highly complex because choosing public places such as squares require permits from governors’ and mayors’ offices, most of which are controlled by members of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

If private spaces are used, their owners may be subject to political and tax pressures from the Venezuelan government. Although 5,000 polling stations were estimated to be installed as a bestcase scenario to gather 7,000 voting precinct tables, this logistics could only be developed with the assistance of the CNE.

Without the support of the electoral authority, the Primaries Committee has considered the installation of 2,517 polling stations as a best-case scenario, with 5,000 voting precinct tables distributed. This distribution may ensure (in terms of logistics) the participation of up to 2.5 million voters.

However, candidates such as Henrique Capriles Radonski have demanded the committee to ensure the installation of 4,012 polling stations, including 7,000 voting precinct tables. The intention of Capriles Radonski’s proposal is that primary elections may encourage the participation of voters outside the opposition’s electoral strongholds and large urban centers.

For his electoral mobilization strategy, the infrastructure discussed by the Primaries Committee is not enough.
However, not only the number of polling stations, but also their location is the focus of discussion. The Primaries Committee is making an effort to ensure that through the location of polling stations voters from 1,122 parishes and 335 municipalities in the country can gather and cast their votes. However, the operational reality is leading the committee’s technicians to admit that the polling stations are likely to be installed where logistically permits and service providers can be obtained to assist in the holding of the event and not where they are necessary to ensure proper gathering of voters.

Installing polling stations where it is logistically possible to ensure their operation will impact the attendance of citizens, thus benefiting the candidates with more support in the areas governed by opposition mayors who belong to the Unitary Platform.

A key element of this process is the poll books to be used preliminarily in 5,000 polling precinct tables grouping 21 million voters. In the last regional elections, the CNE deployed 14,000 polling stations and 25,000 voting precinct tables. Since this is an open primary election, the organizers must successfully gather all registered voters in 5,000 polling precinct tables.

This task involves the printing of up to 1 million ballots with voter data (assuming that each ballot contains 20 rows of voter data), aside from their assembly to ensure the creation of 5,000 poll books.

To date there is no concrete decision as to the supplier that can ensure these prints or whether this supplier will be located inside or outside Venezuela.

Legal threats
The Constitution almost strictly establishes that elections of internal authorities of political parties and unions shall be supervised by the CNE.

Several rulings of the Supreme Court of Justice have specified that this provision reaches the election of candidates.

However, to date, there has been no requirement to elect candidates of a party or an alliance of parties under the supervision of the electoral body.

Meanwhile, threats should include the appeals to challenge the process for voter fraud, for allowing the participation of candidates that are disqualified and that are barred from registering with the CNE in 2024.

However, to date, there is no certainty regarding the disqualifications that are active, at least in the case of the main contestants.

In the public enquiry of the Voter Registration (updated as of March 2023) neither Henrique Capriles Radonski, nor Freddy Superlano or María Corina Machado  appear as disqualified candidates barred from holding office elected by popular vote.

The public enquiry shows the disqualification of other opposition leaders barred from voting and being elected such as David Smolanski (who is not participating in primary elections).

However, despite the absence of the restriction in the CNE information it is public and communicational that in 2017 Capriles Radonski was formally disqualified from running public office for 15 years. Similarly, Freddy Superlano was disqualified in 2021 for 15 years. Machado’s case is different.

Although the public record of the candidate of Vente Venezuela only shows a disqualification imposed in 2016 for 12 months, the Office of the Comptroller General reported that she is also subject to another disqualification for 15 years due to property damages while she served as a deputy of the National Assembly elected in 2010.

According to the information of the Office of the Comptroller, the asset investigation against Machado revealed “errors (overestimates and underestimates), as well as omissions in the affidavit of assets (…) Likewise, it was reported the existence of funds administered on the basis that they represented a percentage of near fifty percent (50%) of the funds administered in the period evaluated, consisting of deposits and credit notes from unknown source in national banks such as Mercantil, C.A., Banco Universal and Venezolano de Crédito, S.A., Banco Universal, as well as deposits and credit notes from unknown source in foreign currency through Venezolano de Crédito/Cayman Branch”

Artículos destacados

Para el debate