Thread by @FiorellaIsabelM

BREAKING Before calling “fraud” on Venezuela’s elections read this:
I’ve covered elections in US, LATAM & Russia. This can be a bit techy but I’ll explain their electoral process step by step.🧵

Here’s a polling station today in “Junta Parroquial La Vega”.

Vid: G. Guillo

1) Upon arrival to their designated precinct, the voter finds which “Mesa” they need to go to. There will be a list with voters' ID numbers to confirm their table. They’re also told this info upon registration. Here they’ll also find more info explaining the entire process.

2) Once voters get to their table, they show their ID & use a biometric (thumbprint) verification machine to double check ID & prevent fraud. The election officials explain how the process will unfold. In Venezuela it’s called an “electoral horseshoe”. Here’s a video from today.

3) As you saw in the video, they’re also asked to leave their phones behind. They also get to see how the ballot will appear on the screen. The candidates endorsed for each party appear under the name of each respective party. More images from today where you can see the thumbprint machine and candidate photos.

4) After ID verification, the voter will make their way to the voting booth to select their candidate of choice on the electronic voting machine. The machine IS NOT connected to the internet. Voters get to see their selection before confirming their choice & printing out a paper receipt, which they’ll then drop inside a ballot box. The public can witness all of this. The receipt is a paper trail that must later match the machine totals.

Note: The machines not being online is crucial because it is in this way that machines can be hacked, which is something I’ve seen in the US.

5) Finally, all the votes from the ballot boxes will be counted & as I mentioned MUST match with the EVM count. There will be multiple audits before, during and after the process. These audits involve the party members of the participating candidates. When the polls close they’ll be counted in front of the public with results given on the same day, today.

Like most LATAM countries, Venezuela has public counting which we also don’t have in the US.

Here is Gloria Guillo who I’ve known for years now. She’s been to Venezuela before and also confirms this process. These are her photos.

More to come on the counting!

6) One other thing: To reemphasize, the machines print out reports and when the machine audit takes place the paper receipts are reviewed to see if they match the machines report. The results are then sent to the CNE (National Electoral Council) where everything is tallied. It’s a centralized process but every step is overlooked by witnesses.

7) Voting polls will close soon. Once polls close, a voting act with the results can be given to the witnesses for each political fraction. This ONLY after ALL voting is over, NOT before. Polls close after 6pm ONLY after every voter in line has been able to cast their vote.