Electronic voting has existed in the South American country since 2004, but many voters don’t know how to use it. That’s especially important as Venezuelans head to the polls on Sunday.
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In Venezuela, the presidential election takes place on Sunday, July 28. But voting is not so easy in this country that has been using electronic voting since 2004. It is not easy for voters to clearly read the screen, divided into 38 thumbnails this year, with portraits of ten different candidates. The opposition is organizing activities to “learn to vote for Edmundo”, in reference to Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the candidate of the majority opposition and main rival of President Nicolas Maduro, in office since 2013. The authorities, for their part, have organized a large rehearsal of the election.
“Hello, do you know how to vote on July 28?” In this working-class district of the capital Caracas, around twenty opposition activists gathered. “You count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, second row, Edmundo Gonzalez.” With a reproduction of the screen that will be presented to voters, Edmundo Gonzalez’s supporters show passers-by where their candidate’s boxes are. Three boxes in total, for three party supporters of his candidacy, when Nicolas Maduro has 13 boxes.
“Here in Venezuela we have little access to the media, says Mirlenis Palacios, one of these opposition activists. So, we made it our mission to take to the streets to show what to do on election day, so as not to make a mistake. If you look closely at this ballot, the government has made sure to put our sticker around others that have similar colours and names. Look, unity here, and unity there. And it’s done on purpose so that people get confused.”
But, unusually, these activists are calling for a vote for a party other than their own. The reason: these opposition leaders were dismissed by a justice system in the pay of the government. “The leadership of several parties has been replaced, and they have chosen new candidates for this election, adds Mirlenis. They are called ‘scorpions’ because they are traitors.”
In Venezuela, they even held a rehearsal of the election. On June 30, a few thousand polling stations welcomed voters who wanted to practice voting, like Minerva. “What you see is a touch screen with thumbnails of the parties and portraits of the candidates they support, she describes. And people just have to click on the image of the party they want to vote for. And then you click on ‘vote’. And that’s it. A little piece of paper prints out and you put it in a ballot box.”
“This repetition is important because there are young people who are voting for the first time and it is a good thing that they become familiar with this system.”
Minerva, electressto franceinfo
But this voter votes for Nicolas Maduro, who is not difficult to find with his 13 stickers, the same cannot be said for the candidate of the majority opposition.