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0 News Ghana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, News Ghana, https://newsghana.com.gh/venezuelas-maduro-declared-winner-amid-allegations-of-election-fraud/
President Nicolás Maduro has secured victory in Venezuela’s presidential election, as announced by the electoral council.
Partial results indicate he received 51.20% of the vote, with 80% of ballots counted. His main rival garnered 44.02% of the vote.
Elvis Amoroso, head of the National Electoral Council and a close ally of President Maduro, declared the results amidst allegations of widespread fraud from the opposition, which united behind candidate Edmundo González to challenge Maduro’s 11-year tenure.
Addressing supporters in Caracas, Maduro hailed his re-election as a “triumph of peace and stability,” lauding Venezuela’s transparent election system. He dismissed opposition claims of fraud as routine objections.
However, the United States expressed scepticism over the election outcome. Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced concerns that the declared results may not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people.
Cuba, a staunch ally of Maduro, supported the election outcome, stating that “the people spoke and the Revolution won.”
The opposition, deploying thousands of poll station witnesses across Venezuela, reported numerous instances where their representatives were allegedly forced out, hindering their ability to verify the vote count independently. They had urged supporters to monitor the vote-counting process vigilantly amid fears of government interference.
Despite opinion polls favouring González, voters voiced a desire for change after 25 years under the Socialist PSUV party, initially led by late President Hugo Chávez and subsequently by Maduro.
Critics have long accused the PSUV of consolidating control over Venezuela’s government institutions, including the judiciary. The 2018 election was criticized as neither free nor fair, and similar concerns loomed over the recent polls.
Maduro had earlier declared confidence in securing victory through any means necessary, further intensifying pre-election apprehensions.
Venezuelan voting is electronic, with results transmitted to CNE headquarters electronically, while paper receipts are stored in ballot boxes. Despite legal provisions allowing party witnesses to monitor paper ballot tallies at polling stations, the opposition alleged restricted access to tally monitoring, citing oversight over less than a third of printed receipts.
The opposition’s strategy aimed to compare these tallies with CNE’s official results to detect discrepancies.
News Ghana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, News Ghana, https://newsghana.com.gh/venezuelas-maduro-declared-winner-amid-allegations-of-election-fraud/
