The National Electoral Council of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has launched a new machine for automated voting, guaranteeing free and credible parliamentary elections on Dec. 6.
Speaking during a virtual launch, Ms Indira Alfonso, President of the National Electoral Council said the machine is a step forward to guarantee a transparent democratic process, the sovereignty of Venezuela and the reelection of the choices of Venezuelans without interferences.
Alfonso said the automated voting machine is simple, reliable, easy to use and understand, taking into consideration special functions for persons with disability and safety measures against the Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease.
She said that “The Objective of this meeting is to get familiar with the technological solution that is going to be the core of this election and is an expression of our robust electoral system.
“From 1997 the reform of our technological platform started and at this moment we can say the historical social, economic context of our country also affected by the pandemic.
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“Regardless of the situation we have the condition that guarantees free and fair elections and the technological process is going to guarantee reliable elections.
“It is a system that is going to be easily understood by the voters that meet the requirement of protection of health.
“The National Electoral Council and the group of the audience will guarantee you transparency of the democratic process that will take place on Dec. 6th when the people will have the opportunity to vote for a new parliament.
“This is time to express the freedom of the sovereign will of Venezuela people. We have a machine and everything within the context of the new security measures we have implemented for this electoral process,” Alfonso said.
In his remarks, Venezuelan Ambassador to Nigeria David Caraballo said the new technology electoral solution was a great step to improving the democratic process of Venezuela.
Caraballo said despite the position of the European Union which is advocating for a postponement of the Parliamentary elections, the electoral system of Venezuela is one of the safest and advanced in the world.
He said that to further show the transparency of the election process to the world, Venezuela would be inviting a lot of foreign observers to witness the Parliamentary elections of Dec. 6.
“This parliamentary election is very important for Venezuelan people because some members of the National Assembly now are involved in some of the unilateral coercive measures against Venezuela.
“They are promoting violence, they are promoting destabilization against the country and this year the term of the national assembly finishes.
“Some countries like the Members of the European Union are telling us that we cannot make this election and they are calling to postpone but the constitution is very clear.
“That at the end of the first term of the parliament they need to make the election and on January 5 we establish.
“In spite of the position of the European Union or any other country the electoral system in Venezuela is one of the safest and advanced in the world.
“The President and former President Jimmy Carter has gone to Venezuela and certified this and different institutions.
“For that, we do not have any problem to invite any kind of institution in the world.
“We are inventing Nigeria, President ECOWAS, and Members of the ECOWAS Parliament. In Africa we are inviting almost 14 countries to observe this electoral process,” Caraballo said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the National Electoral Council also did a drill to show and enlighten Venezuelans on the process and how to use the machine to vote.