Venezuela’s Supreme Court has affirmed President Nicolás Maduro’s claim of victory in the contested July 28 presidential election, rejecting online voting tallies that showed a decisive loss for the incumbent. The court’s decision, announced Thursday, supports Maduro’s assertion that he won by over 1 million votes and dismisses the tallies published by the opposition as fraudulent.
The ruling comes as part of Maduro’s effort to address widespread protests and international criticism surrounding the election, in which he sought a third term. The Supreme Court, heavily aligned with Maduro, has rarely opposed the government in its rulings. This decision was made following a review of the vote totals at Maduro’s request.
The opposition, led by candidate Edmundo González, contends that the election results were manipulated. Opposition volunteers collected copies of voting tallies from 80% of the 30,000 polling stations nationwide, indicating that González won by a more than 2-to-1 margin. The official results, which were supposed to be verifiable via QR codes on each voting machine, are disputed by the opposition.
“An attempt to judicialise the results doesn’t change the truth. We won overwhelmingly and we have the voting records to prove it,” González, standing before a Venezuelan flag, said in a video posted on social media.
International observers, including the United Nations and the Carter Center, have criticised the election process, citing a lack of detailed results and alleging that the authorities failed to release a comprehensive breakdown of the voting data. The government has claimed, without substantiation, that a cyberattack from North Macedonia disrupted the vote counting and result publication.
González was the only one of 10 candidates who did not participate in the Supreme Court’s audit, a fact noted by the justices, who in their ruling accused him of trying to spread panic.
Gonzalez and his chief supporter, María Corina Machado, have gone into hiding amid a crackdown on dissent and the arrest of over 2,000 individuals. Protests erupted nationwide in response to the election results, leading to significant unrest.
Foreign governments, including the U.S. and Maduro’s allies, have called for the release of the full election results. Chilean President Gabriel Boric condemned the Supreme Court’s ruling, accusing it of solidifying electoral fraud and reinforcing the perception of Venezuela as a dictatorship.
“Today, Venezuela’s TSJ has finally consolidated the fraud,” he said on his X account referring to the initials of the high court. “The Maduro regime obviously welcomes with enthusiasm its ruling… there is no doubt that we are facing a dictatorship that falsifies elections.”
The Venezuelan government’s response has been to maintain its stance, bolstering Maduro’s position despite the ongoing controversy and calls for transparency.
Melissa Enoch
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