2017 Venezuelan regional elections explained

Election Name:2017 Venezuelan regional elections
Country:Venezuela
Type:Gubernatorial
Seats For Election:23 governorships
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2012 Venezuelan regional elections
Previous Year:2012
Next Year:2021
Turnout:61.14%
Alliance1:Great Patriotic Pole
Popular Vote1:5,817,344
Percentage1:52.68
Colour1:cc0000
Alliance2:Coalition for Democratic Unity
Popular Vote2:4,984,830
Percentage2:45.14%
Colour2:0000ac
Map Size:214px
Map Alt:Results by state.

Regional elections were held in Venezuela on 15 October 2017 to elect the executive position of all 23 federal entities.[1] This marked the first state executive election not held on the same date as elections for state legislatures, and the second separate from municipal elections. They were the 9th regional elections held in Venezuela since 1989.

The two main participants were the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) opposition coalition and the Great Patriotic Pole (GPP) alliance of the ruling Bolivarian government. The election resulted in a victory for the GPP, which won 18 out of the 23 governorships, while the MUD won the remaining five. Four Democratic Action opposition governors elected decided to be sworn in under the GPP government-led National Constituent Assembly despite promises to never recognize the body.[2]

Irregularities

Delayed elections

Controversy arose surrounding on whether the election would be held or not since the National Electoral Council (CNE) had not determined a date only two months ahead of the expected election date in December 2016. Some believed that the delay was due to the belief that if elections were held, the ruling party, United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), would suffer one of its largest losses in over a decade.[3] In July 2016, a possible election date of 11 December was discussed but never confirmed by authorities.[4], rector of the National Electoral Council (CNE), explained that the CNE has received complaints related to delays in the setting up of the polling stations and the arrival of their staff, as well as "technical problems with voting machines".[5]

On 18 October 2016, the president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Tibisay Lucena, stated that regional elections would not be held until mid-2017, stating the delay was due to a so-called "economic war" and low oil prices. Government sources stated that the true reason of the delay was hope that higher oil prices would raise the popularity of the PSUV.[6]

Lucena finally announced on 23 May 2017 that elections were to be held on 10 December 2017.[7] However, during the 5th session of the 2017 Constituent Assembly of Venezuela, it was later suggested to move the elections to October 2017.[8] In September 2017, 15 October 2017 was selected as the date for regional elections.[1]

Relocation of voting centers

denounced several irregularities throughout the campaign, which were also criticised by the opposition and governments such as Canada and the United States, and considered that the electoral body has taken several illegal measures aimed at demobilizing voters in areas identified as opposition strongholds. The Democratic Unity Roundtable issued a statement declaring:

They claimed Daniel Ortega and First Lady Rosario Murillo were allies of president Nicolás Maduro and that "both have now become in the principal advisors of Maduro in the organization of electoral frauds". In a statement, the MUD demanded the Executive Branch the immediate expulsion of Nicaraguan advisors and asked the Organization of American States (OAS) and the governments of the region to demand Nicaragua not to meddle in the internal affairs of Venezuela, saying that "we reject the participation of Nicaragua in any initiative related with the situation of Venezuela". Liliana Hernández, electoral coordinator of the MUD, denounced that the CNE did not allow international observers and did not accredit the Venezuelan Electoral Observatory for the accompaniment during the regional elections.[9]

The relocation happened in less than 72 hours of the election of more than 250 voting centers, many of which located in traditionally opposition zones.[5] Due to the relocation of voting centers by the government, some middle class Venezuelans who usually support the opposition were forced to vote in poor communities filled with crime, deterring voter participation in some cases.[10] Three days before elections, the Bolivarian government-led CNE changed hundreds of voting locations affecting over 700,000 voters in predominately opposition areas, publishing a table with the affected polling stations, with the Miranda and Mérida states being the most affected, with 232,428 and 129,520 voters, respectively. The CNE cited security reasons, though opposition members believe the move was to cause confusion and prevent voter participation.[11] [12]

Broadcasting

Rondón also criticized the state television network, Venezolana de Televisión, for transmitting pro-government messages which is forbidden by law, describing it as "regretful" that the very public network "is violating the electoral regulations".

Ineligible candidates

The CNE refused to remove MUD politicians who had lost primaries before the election from boards that voter would choose from. Venezuelans seeking to vote for an opposition candidate had the possibility of voting for an ineligible candidate out of confusion.[13]

Election day

Although the Venezuelan Electoral Observatory declared that "there are incidents but these are more isolated than generalized", it reported several irregularities, including reports of absence of witnesses in voting centers, that the CNE web portal still had outdated data on the relocation of polling stations, that Carlos Ocariz, candidate for the Miranda state, postponed his right to vote because he was attacked, and that a polling stating located in, asked voters to pass by a "red point" of the United Socialist Party (PSUV) to verify their information after voting.[14]

During the elections there was refusal by the and board members for media to cover the process. In the Fermín Toro school of Valencia one of the electoral witnesses denounced that their credential was taken away by an official after taking photos of the center. Until the dawn, the System of Public Media transmitted electoral propaganda of the pro-government candidates, violating the electoral norm. In Los Teques several electoral boards opened late and with accidental members (voters waiting in line and board witnesses).[15]

Daniel Ascanio, president of the Federation of Student Centers of the Simón Bolívar University, declared that government supporters took control of the largest polling stating in Guarenas to prevent voters to cast their ballot.[16] Despite that at 10:00am VST the MUD registered more than 620 irregular incidents, the opposition coalition assured that the complaints still represented a low percentage and they were being dealt with regionally to solve the problems.[17] Minister of Defense Padrino López reported the commission of 26 alleged electoral crimes, and Foro Penal reported 15 related arrests, including one for taking a picture of the electoral ballot, among which most of the detainees were released.[18]

Election ink was not used like in previous elections.[19] In several polling stations, power outages and failing voter machines led to longer than expected wait times for voters.[20] Pro-government colectivos were seen riding motorcycles near voting centers in some cities;[21] Eduardo Vale, a MUD councilor of Maracaibo, denounced that with Molotov cocktails were thrown at one center.[22] Journalists were reportedly assaulted in Trujillo[23] and Zulia.[24]

Results

The Democratic Unity Roundtable issued a statement setting a position and denouncing the several irregularities during the process, among which were:

  1. An electoral population of at least 1,000,080 voters was prevented or hindered from voting in centers historically favorable to the opposition by damaged machines, boards that did not open or that had unjustified delays until late at night.
    1. More than 700 thousand Venezuelans who were migrated from their centers 48 hours before the election and even on the day of the election.
    2. An affected electoral population of at least 350,000 citizens affected by violence and intimidation inside and outside the electoral centers which prevented or hindered the free exercise of the vote.
    3. At least 90,537 null votes that should have been awarded to opposition candidates as a result of the impediment of replacing candidates already retired in fraud to the law.
    4. Coercion and blackmail of public employees and beneficiaries of social programs forcing them to vote with the accompaniment of PSUV leaders and through the Carnet de la Patria, which prevents the exercise of a free vote.
    5. Voters that exercised multiple votes and disrespecting the principle "one elector one vote", facilitated by the absence of indelible ink for the first time in our history.
    6. Irregular extensions after the time of the legal closure.
    7. Obstruction of the audits of the citizen verification process, which impeded the verification of the consistency between the votes cast and the results transmitted.
    8. Numeric inconsistency of historic electoral results as well as with all the studies, polls and exit polls carried out.[25]

The National Electoral Council published results for Bolívar on its website confirming the victory of the opposition candidate, then deleted them hours later. The opposition candidate to the Bolívar state governorship, Andrés Velásquez, announced before the CNE counted the voters that the results that showed him as the winner were "irreversible", declaring having 100% of the ballots, pointing out that the CNE did not count them to try to revert the obtained advantage and assuring that until the moment he had 50.42% of the adjudicated votes, while the Socialist Party had 49.58%, 268,361 votes.[26] On 18 October, Velásquez denounced the appointment of candidate Justo Noguera Pietri to the governorship as "fraud", claiming the existence of invalid ballots.[27] The same day, parliamentarian Enrique Márquez showed comparisons of the voting records from several voting boards with the results shown by the CNE, in which they subtracted votes from Andrés Velásquez and added votes to Justo Noguera Pietri, including a board showing a participation percentage of 96.67%.[28]

In the evening, spokesman for the MUD Ramon Guillermo Aveledo stated that opposition candidates elected into office would not subordinate to the Constituent National Assembly, saying "The Constitution is in force and says that the governor is sworn in before the Legislative Council".[29] Minutes before Tibisay Lucena announced preliminary results, the MUD advised voters that the CNE had different results than the ones calculated by observers.[30]

The opposition candidate Carlos Ocariz declared that he would not recognize Héctor Rodríguez, his rival candidate, as governor of Miranda. As part of the complaints made by the opposition candidate, he explained that for example in 403 centers out of 1118 "we could not connect with the witnesses because they shut down the telephone lines". He described having "all the acts and we are reviewing them. But it is not a matter only of acts " since "in many voting centers they took our witnesses by force". He explained that "the substitutions that are our right and are established in the constitution were not allowed illegally. With 48 hours left for the boards to be installed the CNE unscrupulously and illegally made a move and changed the voting centers to 225 thousand Mirandinos". He also explained that they did a re-engineering with the centers relocation and that "it affected the results remarkably". He added that the persons that were mobilized in buses to the relocated centers were assaulted and beaten, and that violence was used as a tool to prevent the vote. "We saw the massification of the multiple vote as there was no indelible ink", adding that Venezuela currently faces "an absolutely fraudulent system". "There are numerical inconsistencies between the polls and the election results."[31]

Public opinion

Graphical summary

Poll results are listed in the tables below in chronological order and using the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. If such date is unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the leading party's colour.

Date(s)
conducted
Polling organizationSample sizeMUDGPPUndecidedLead
data-sort-value="17-01-2017" Aug 2016Datincorp1,19947% 20% 31% 27%
data-sort-value="17-01-2017" 12–24 Nov 2016Venebarometro1,20052.5% 27.5% 6.5% 25%
data-sort-value="17-01-2017" 15–30 Nov 2016Hercon1,20051.65% 21.21% 11.03% 30.44%
data-sort-value="17-01-2017" 20 Jan – 6 Feb 2017Hercon1,20051.5% 20.9% 12.5% 30.6%
data-sort-value="17-01-2017" Venebarometro1,20055% 26% 19% 29%
data-sort-value="17-01-2017" 9–27 Feb 2017Meganalisis1,15036.3% 11.9% 27.9% 24.4%
data-sort-value="17-01-2017" 15–30 April 2017Hercon1,20065.5% 17.2% 11.1% 48.3%
data-sort-value="17-01-2017" Aug 2017Delphos65% 35% 30%
data-sort-value="17-01-2017" 1–5 Aug 2017Hercon1,00040% 18.4% 5.2% 21.6%
data-sort-value="17-01-2017" 20–29 Aug 2017Hercon1,20053.8% 19.3% 5.3% 34.5%
data-sort-value="17-01-2017" Sept 2017Delphos38% 20% 23% 18%
data-sort-value="17-01-2017" 1–20 Sept 2017Venebarometro1,50051.7% 27.6% 20.7% 24.1%
data-sort-value="17-01-2017" Oct 2017Datanalisis44.7% 21.1% 23.6%
data-sort-value="17-01-2017" Oct 2017Ecoanalítica63.4% 36.4% 27.0%
data-sort-value="17-01-2017" Oct 2017Poder y Estrategia-61% 30% 2% 31%
data-sort-value="17-01-2017" Oct 2017Hercon1,00059.2% 30.5% 8.3% 28.7%

Results

Preliminary

According to Lucena, the MUD opposition coalition had only won 5 of 22 governorships in Venezuela – Anzoátegui, Mérida, Nueva Esparta, Táchira and Zulia – in what she called "irreversible results", while the GPP alliance of the Bolivarian government had won the remaining 17. There was no word on the results of the final state, Bolívar.[30] [32]

Final results

StateGPP candidate%MUD candidate%
AmazonasMiguel Rodríguez 60.09%[33] Bernabé Gutiérrez31.08%
Anzoátegui47.06%Antonio Barreto Sira 51.69%
ApureRamón Carrizales52.13%José Montilla 31.79%
AraguaRodolfo Marco Torres 57.02%39.43%
BarinasArgenis Chávez 53.11%Freddy Superlano44.14%
BolívarJusto Noguera 49.09%48.83%
CaraboboRafael Lacava 52.75%Alejandro Feo La Cruz 45.62%
CojedesMargaud Godoy55.68%Alberto Galindez42.71%
Delta AmacuroLisetta Hernández60.24%Larissa González38.14%
FalcónVíctor Clark52.44%Eliézer Sirit43.93%
GuáricoJosé Vásquez61.77%Pedro Loreto37.29%
LaraCarmen Meléndez58.33%Henri Falcón40.27%
MéridaJehyson Guzmán46.54%Ramón Guevara50.82%
MirandaHéctor Rodríguez52.78%Carlos Ocariz45.67%
MonagasYelitza Santaella54.07%Guillermo Call43.83%
Nueva EspartaCarlos Mata Figueroa47.40%Alfredo Díaz51.87%
PortuguesaRafael Calles64.51%María Beatriz Martínez32.94%
SucreEdwin Rojas59.79%Robert Alcalá38.86%
TáchiraJosé Vielma Mora35.41%Laidy Gómez63.27%
TrujilloHenry Rangel Silva59.75%Carlos González37.74%
VargasJorge García Carneiro52.98%José Manuel Olivares45.57%
YaracuyJulio León Heredia62.13%Luis Parra35.56%
ZuliaFrancisco Arias Cárdenas47.38%Juan Pablo Guanipa51.35%

Aftermath

Following the elections where the opposition only won five of twenty-three governorships, disillusionment with the opposition movement grew, especially after four of five opposition governors elected belonging to Democratic Action decided to be sworn in under the Bolivarian government-led National Constituent Assembly despite promises to never recognize the body.[34]

Reactions

Governments and supranational organisations

Domestic

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Venezuela sets Oct. 15 for regional vote favoring opposition. https://web.archive.org/web/20170912034219/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/venezuela-sets-oct-15-for-regional-vote-favoring-opposition/2017/09/11/42f958a4-9764-11e7-af6a-6555caaeb8dc_story.html. dead. 12 September 2017. 12 September 2017. The Washington Post. 11 September 2017.
  2. News: Venezuelan opposition disarray heaps pain on protesters. Aponte. Andreina. 25 October 2017. Reuters. 26 October 2017. Polanco. Angry.
  3. News: Vasquez S.. Alex. Venezuela skipping regional election to keep Chavista governors in place, critics say. 7 October 2016. Fox News Latino. 6 October 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161007064903/http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2016/10/06/venezuela-skipping-regional-election-to-keep-chavista-governors-in-place/. 7 October 2016. dead. dmy-all.
  4. Web site: 2016-10-01 . Fecha tentativa para elecciones regionales: 11-D . 2022-12-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161001181116/http://www.panorama.com.ve/politicayeconomia/Fecha-tentativa-para-elecciones-regionales-11-D-20160702-0033.html . 2016-10-01 .
  5. Web site: Rector electoral venezolano reporta retrasos en constitución de mesas de voto. https://web.archive.org/web/20171016122110/http://asimismo.com.ve/rector-electoral-venezolano-reporta-retrasos-constitucion-mesas-voto/. 16 October 2017. AsíMismo. 16 October 2017. 10 May 2018. es.
  6. News: Cawthorne. Andrew. Venezuela delays state elections to 2017, opposition angry. 19 October 2016. Reuters. 19 October 2016.
  7. News: As Venezuela unrest spreads, Maduro presses on with plans to rewrite charter. 24 May 2017. Reuters. 24 May 2017.
  8. News: Constituyente cubana apobó adelantar las elecciones regionales para el mes de octubre. 13 August 2017. La Patilla. 12 August 2017. es.
  9. News: Liliana Hernández: A Tibisay no le gusta la observación internacional. 15 October 2017. El Nacional. 16 October 2017. es.
  10. News: Opposition vies for landmark victory in polarized Venezuela. 15 October 2017. ABC News. 16 October 2017. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20171020152937/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/opposition-government-vie-votes-polarized-venezuela-50489353. 20 October 2017. dead.
  11. News: 715.502 electores fueron afectados por reubicación de centros de votación. 14 October 2017. El Nacional. 12 October 2017. es.
  12. News: Armario. Christine. AP Explains: What's at stake in Venezuela vote for governors. 14 October 2017. Lincoln Journal Star. Associated Press. 13 October 2017. en.
  13. News: Venezuela regional elections: Maduro's party sweeps board. 16 October 2017. Deutsche Welle. 16 October 2017. en.
  14. News: OEV: Hay incidentes pero son más aislados que generalizados (segundo reporte Cocuyo Electoral). Avendaño. Shari. 15 October 2017. Efecto Cocuyo. es. https://web.archive.org/web/20171016013351/http://efectococuyo.com/politica/oev-hay-incidentes-pero-son-mas-aislados-que-generalizados-segundo-reporte-cocuyo-electoral. 16 October 2017. dead.
  15. News: Retraso en instalación de mesas domina jornada en Altos Mirandinos. Del Giudice. Pola. 15 October 2017. El Pitazo. es. https://web.archive.org/web/20171016122024/https://elpitazo.com/gran-caracas/retraso-en-instalacion-de-mesas-domina-jornada-en-altos-mirandinos/. 16 October 2017. dead.
  16. News: Electores votaron en Guarenas pese al amedrentamiento de colectivos armados. 15 October 2017. El Nacional. 16 October 2017. es.
  17. News: Las irregularidades denunciadas al inicio del proceso electoral el #15Oct. Lozada. Mariel. es. https://web.archive.org/web/20171016060051/http://efectococuyo.com/politica/las-irregularidades-denunciadas-al-inicio-del-proceso-electoral-el-15oct. 2017-10-16. dead.
  18. News: Foro Penal reporta 15 detenidos este # 15 Oct. 15 October 2017. Efecto Cocuyo. es. https://web.archive.org/web/20171016023454/http://efectococuyo.com/politica/foro-penal-reporta-15-detenidos-este-15-oct. 16 October 2017. dead.
  19. News: Rondón: CNE will not use indelible ink in the regional ones. 14 September 2017. El Nacional. 17 October 2017. es.
  20. News: Conozca las denuncias más frecuentes en la mitad de la jornada electoral. 15 October 2017. El Nacional. 15 October 2017. es.
  21. News: Colectivos rondan centros de votación en Guarenas. 15 October 2017. El Nacional. 17 October 2017. es.
  22. News: Denuncian agresiones de grupos oficialistas en centro de votación del Zulia. 15 October 2017. El Nacional. 15 October 2017. es.
  23. News: Colectivos amenazaron con arma a periodista en Trujillo. 15 October 2017. El Nacional. 15 October 2017. es.
  24. News: En Zulia agredieron a un equipo de periodistas en centro de votación. 15 October 2017. El Nacional. 15 October 2017. es.
  25. News: [Comunicado] MUD exige "auditoría total, cuantitativa y cualitativa" de todo el proceso electoral]. 18 October 2017. Runrunes. 16 October 2017.
  26. News: Ibis. León. Son irreversibles los resultados que me dan ganador en Bolívar, afirma Andrés Velásquez. 18 October 2017. Efecto Cocuyo. 17 October 2017. es. https://web.archive.org/web/20171018014556/http://efectococuyo.com/politica/son-irreversibles-los-resultados-que-me-dan-ganador-en-bolivar-afirma-andres-velasquez. 18 October 2017. dead.
  27. News: Andrés Velásquez: Con 100% de actas en mano puedo demostrar que esto es un fraude. 18 October 2017. 19 October 2017. Efecto Cocuyo. es-ES. https://web.archive.org/web/20171019221220/http://efectococuyo.com/politica/andres-velasquez-con-100-de-actas-en-mano-puedo-demostrar-que-esto-es-un-fraude. 19 October 2017. dead.
  28. News: Oposición venezolana publica actas sobre 'fraude' electoral cometido por el chavismo. 19 October 2017. El Nuevo Herald. es.
  29. News: MUD: Gobernadores no se subordinarán a la ANC. 15 October 2017. El Nacional. 16 October 2017. es.
  30. News: CNE dio resultados irreversibles en 22 estados del país. 15 October 2017. El Nacional. 16 October 2017. es.
  31. News: Carlos Ocariz: No reconocemos a Héctor Rodríguez como ganador de la gobernación. León. Ibis. 16 October 2017. Efecto Cocuyo. es. https://web.archive.org/web/20171016222716/http://efectococuyo.com/politica/carlos-ocariz-no-reconocemos-a-hector-rodriguez-como-ganador-de-la-gobernacion. 16 October 2017. dead.
  32. News: Cawthorne. Andrew. Venezuela socialists win regional vote, opposition sees fraud. 16 October 2017. Reuters. 16 October 2017.
  33. News: Divulgación Elecciones Regionales 2017. 18 October 2017. Consejo Nacional Electoral. 19 October 2017. es.
  34. News: Aponte. Andreina. Polanco. Angry. Venezuelan opposition disarray heaps pain on protesters. 26 October 2017. Reuters. 25 October 2017.
  35. News: Argentina y otros 11 países reclamaron "auditoría independiente" a los comicios regionales en Venezuela. 17 October 2017. 21 October 2017. La Voz. es-ES.
  36. News: Agence France-Presse. Elecciones regionales en Venezuela no cambiarán "línea de acción" de UE. 16 October 2017. El Nacional. es.
  37. News: Canadá: Cierre de centros de votación impide elecciones libres y justas. 13 October 2017. La Patilla. 14 October 2017. es-ES.
  38. News: Israel pide al Gobierno que permita a la oposición competir con libertad. EFE. Efecto Cocuyo. 15 October 2017. es. 5 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20171016122122/http://efectococuyo.com/efecto-cocuyo/israel-pide-al-gobierno-que-permita-a-la-oposicion-competir-con-libertad. 16 October 2017. dead.
  39. News: EEUU considera que elecciones en Venezuela no fueron "libres" ni "justas". https://web.archive.org/web/20171016231613/http://www.eluniversal.com/noticias/politica/eeuu-considera-que-elecciones-venezuela-fueron-libres-justas_674157. 16 October 2017. El Universal. 16 October 2017. es.
  40. News: Flores Riofrio. Jorge. La MUD no reconocerá ninguno de los resultados de las elecciones regionales del #15Oct. 15 October 2017. 16 October 2017. Efecto Cocuyo. es. https://web.archive.org/web/20171016153042/http://efectococuyo.com/politica/la-mud-no-reconocera-ninguno-de-los-resultados-de-las-elecciones-regionales-del-15oct. 16 October 2017. dead.
  41. News: Venebarómetro: Los resultados son absolutamente inconsistentes. 16 October 2017. La Patilla. es.
  42. News: Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro defends Sunday's vote. 18 October 2017. Al Jazeera. 7 May 2018.