Politics High electoral official in Venezuela criticizes election as non-transparent

An important official of the Venezuelan electoral office has criticized the presidential election in the South American country, which was overshadowed by allegations of fraud, as lacking transparency.

There were incidents before, during and after the election that cast doubt on the electoral process and the official result, wrote Juan Carlos Delpino Boscán in a statement published on X.

For example, the results were not sent to the electoral council immediately after the polling stations closed and opposition observers were expelled from the polling stations. Some parties had already been excluded from the election in advance. In addition, it was made unnecessarily difficult for Venezuelans abroad to take part in the election.

Delpino is one of five members of the National Electoral Council (CNE). He did not take part in the announcement of the official election results in protest at the irregularities he criticized. The CNE had declared authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro the winner of the ballot at the end of July. However, it has not yet published the breakdown of the results. The opposition accuses the government of electoral fraud and is claiming victory for its candidate Edmundo González Urrutia. Most recently, the pro-government Supreme Court confirmed Maduro's election victory.