A panel of United Nations electoral experts has concluded that Venezuela’s elections failed to meet “basic standards of transparency and integrity” and warns that the failure to publish detailed results is “unprecedented in contemporary democratic elections.”
The panel’s comments, published on Tuesday (13) but dated August 9, come amid an ongoing electoral dispute in the South American country that has led to at least 2,400 arrests and around 23 deaths during protests.
“In short, the CNE’s results management process fell short of the basic measures of transparency and integrity that are essential for conducting credible elections. It did not follow national legal and regulatory provisions and all stipulated deadlines were missed,” the panel’s report says.
The experts add in the document: “In the Panel’s experience, the announcement of an election result without publishing its details or disclosing the tabulated results to the candidates is unprecedented in contemporary democratic elections. This has had a negative impact on confidence in the result announced by the CNE among a large part of the Venezuelan electorate.”
Four experts from the panel were sent to monitor the July 28 elections in Caracas.
“Its purpose was to monitor and report internally to the UN Secretary-General on the electoral process and to make recommendations for future improvements. The Panel was not an observation mission and – in contrast to election observation missions – was not established to make a public judgment on the outcome of the election,” the report explains.
With information from Reuters.
Source: CNN Brasil
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