{"id":8708,"date":"2024-07-12T09:25:32","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T13:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=8708"},"modified":"2024-07-14T09:33:07","modified_gmt":"2024-07-14T13:33:07","slug":"why-nicolas-maduro-appears-13-times-on-the-ballot-for-venezuelas-presidential-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=8708","title":{"rendered":"Why Nicol\u00e1s Maduro Appears 13 Times on the Ballot for Venezuela\u2019s Presidential Election"},"content":{"rendered":"

His smile is confident, his hair well-combed and his eyes are squinting slightly: The first candidate you\u2019ll likely see on the ballot in Venezuela\u2019s upcoming presidential<\/a><\/span> election is Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a><\/span>, the incumbent seeking reelection.<\/p>\n

Unlike some of his nine challengers, Maduro shows up not once or twice, but a whopping 13 times on the ballot \u2014 and he\u2019s certain to catch the voters\u2019 attention.<\/p>\n

Each time, it\u2019s for one of the several political groups he is representing in the highly anticipated July 28 presidential election. Maduro takes up the entire first of the ballot\u2019s four rows while the rest of the candidates\u2019 photos are sprinkled here and there, including that of former diplomat Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez Urrutia, the only contender with real chances of denying the president a third term.<\/p>\n

Still, the sheer number of Maduro\u2019s images appearing on the ballot belies the seriousness of the moment.<\/p>\n

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, right, points to a copy of an electoral card as he speaks to supporters at a campaign rally in the Boulevard of Coche in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, July 8, 2024. (AP Photo\/Ariana Cubillos)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Venezuela faces its toughest electoral test in decades. The outcome could give Maduro another six years in power or end the self-described socialist\u2019s policies that once successfully boosted anti-poverty programs but whose sustained mismanagement later pushed the country into an ongoing economic crisis.<\/p>\n

Venezuela\u2019s electoral rules allow for candidates\u2019 pictures to appear on the ballots \u2014 the electronic ones within Venezuela and printed for those voting abroad \u2014 as many times as the number of parties that support them. This year\u2019s ballot has 38 pictures, each with every candidate\u2019s name and party underneath.<\/p>\n

Seasoned Venezuelan voters are also used to seeing many candidates on the touchscreens used in the South American country\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n

But for some, that many photos could be confusing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get dizzy when I see Maduro so many times on that card, but I know that the danger is in the candidates who do not represent us,\u201d said Sonia Guevara, a 38-year-old office worker, referring to some opposition candidates who are seen close to the government.<\/p>\n

A supporter of opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez holds a poster featuring the presidential ballot as thousands wait for his arrival at a campaign rally in Barinas, Venezuela, Saturday, July 6, 2024. The official campaign period for the July 28 election kicked off on July 4. (AP Photo\/Ariana Cubillos)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Such an example is the case of Luis Mart\u00ednez, the candidate from \u201cAcci\u00f3n Democr\u00e1tica\u201d \u2014 Democratic Action party or AD for short \u2014 a traditional opposition group whose leadership was suspended months ago by the Maduro-loyal top court.<\/p>\n

Mart\u00ednez decided not to support Gonz\u00e1lez, the contender of the opposition\u2019s Unitary Platform coalition<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is confusing. I have had to explain to my mother many times that the AD on the card is not the AD she always votes for,\u201d Guevara said. \u201cMy mom is 71 years old, and I tell her not to vote for AD this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gonz\u00e1lez is featured three times on the ballot. Mart\u00ednez, who is considered a government ally, shows up six times.<\/p>\n

Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, accompanied by wife Mercedes, flashes a thumbs up at supporters as he arrives to his campaign rally in Barinas, Venezuela, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo\/Ariana Cubillos)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The number of eligible voters ahead of this month\u2019s election is estimated to be around 17 million. Another 4 million Venezuelans living abroad are registered to vote, but only about 69,000 met the government-set requirements to cast ballots overseas. Costly and time-consuming government prerequisites to register, lack of information and a mandatory proof of legal residency in a host country kept many migrants from signing up to vote.<\/p>\n

Francisco Maldonado, a 50-year-old merchant in Caracas, is ready to vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point, I think we all know who we are going to vote for, but more than ever we have to be careful, the same care we have when we use an ATM,\u201d Maldonado said. \u201cWe cannot make a mistake when marking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Venezuela\u2019s exact population is unclear as the last census in the South American country was conducted in 2011. At the time, it concluded there were 27.2 million people \u2014 but since the country\u2019s political, economic and social crisis over the last decade, more than 7.7 million have left.<\/p>\n

Laura Dib, Venezuela Program Director at WOLA, a Washington-based nongovernmental organization focused on human rights in the Americas, said that even if it\u2019s common that a candidate\u2019s face is repeated on the ballot, being 13 times on it, makes Maduro \u201cvisually the easiest to identify.\u201d<\/p>\n

A supporter of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro holds a poster with an image of him during a campaign rally in the Boulevard of Coche in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, July 8, 2024. (AP Photo\/Ariana Cubillos)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
A supporter of opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez cheers as thousnads wait for his arrival at a campaign rally in Barinas, Venezuela, Saturday, July 6, 2024. The official campaign period for the July 28 election kicked off on July 4. (AP Photo\/Ariana Cubillos)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Considering that the opposition faction supporting Gonz\u00e1lez has no access to official media in Venezuela, Dib said \u201cthe opposition has a harder time educating voters on how to vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also noted there are other confusing matters \u2014 some parties are using the same colors on the ballot as those supporting Maduro. And one candidate from an opposition faction was allowed to use the same color as the main opposition candidate group.<\/p>\n

That, Dib said, \u201calso creates confusion and it violates the rules of the CNE,\u201d she said, referring to the acronym in Spanish for the national electoral council.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the electoral law allows parties to substitute candidates 10 days before election day, although that change may not be reflected on the ballots, which have already been programmed on the electronic machines or printed for the vote abroad.<\/p>\n

If people vote for a candidate who has been replaced, Dib said, \u201cthose votes casted will be null.\u201d<\/p>\n

People attend an opposition rally launching the official presidential campaign season, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, July 4, 2024. Venezuelans head to the polls on July 28 as President Nicolas Maduro seeks a third term. (AP Photo\/Ariana Cubillos)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

– Jorge Rueda, AP News<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

His smile is confident, his hair well-combed and his eyes are squinting slightly: The first candidate you\u2019ll likely see on the ballot in Venezuela\u2019s upcoming presidential election is Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, the incumbent seeking reelection. Unlike some of his nine challengers, Maduro shows up not once or twice, but a whopping 13 times on the ballot \u2014 and he\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":8710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dims.apnews.com\/dims4\/default\/de9ae76\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4671x3114+0+0\/resize\/1600x1066!\/format\/webp\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2F%5B-%2F20%2F%2C%2012%2C%20-76%2C%20-105%2C%2027%2C%20-33%2C%20-79%2C%20-34%2C%20-118%2C%20-110%2C%2099%2C%20-87%2C%20-13%2C%2048%2C%20-36%2C%2064%2C%2010%2C%20-96%2C%20-72%2C%20125%2C%20-100%2C%2012%2C%20-68%2C%2030%2C%20-118%2C%20-127%2C%209%2C%20117%5D%2Fa230ca413b3b46d38e0990b8aec4db19","fifu_image_alt":"Why Nicol\u00e1s Maduro Appears 13 Times on the Ballot for Venezuela\u2019s Presidential Election","footnotes":""},"categories":[192],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polity-governance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8708"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8711,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8708\/revisions\/8711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}