National Electoral Council (Venezuela)

The National Electoral Council (CNE) is the governing body that exercises electoral power in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, being one of the five public powers of the State established in the National Constitution.

The legal norm that governs the electoral power is the Organic Law of Electoral Power (LOPE) that defines its competence to regulate, organize, direct and supervise the activities of its subordinate bodies, as well as guarantee compliance with the constitutional principles attributed to the Electoral Power.

Its headquarters are located in the Centro Simón Bolívar in the center of the city of Caracas.

History

Supreme Electoral Council (1936 - 1997)

The electoral body was created under the name of Supreme Electoral Council in September 1936, by the Congress of the Republic of Venezuela, through the Electoral Census and Elections Law, which was promulgated on September 11, that same year. By then, the Supreme Electoral Council was a court of appeals from the decisions issued by the state boards and supervised the election process.

In 1946, by constitutional provision, the CSE organized the first elections by universal and direct vote for the positions of the national public power (President of the Republic and Deputies of the National Congress). For the first time, the right to vote was extended to women, the illiterate and those over 18 years of age, thereby establishing universal suffrage. However, in 1948 there was an interruption of the country's democratic institutions due to a military coup, which would last about 10 years.

On January 23, 1958, the military regime of Marcos Pérez Jiménez ended and democratic institutions were restored and the CSE once again assumed its functions of organizing and monitoring all electoral processes. On June 20 of that year, its members were appointed, and the CSE was finally installed on June 25.

On December 3, 1989, direct and universal elections were held for the first time for the election of Governors and Mayors. This advance in the democratic decentralization of the country implied an important challenge for the organization and development of electoral processes in Venezuela.

National Electoral Council (1997 - 1999)

Since 1997, with the entry into force of the Organic Law of Suffrage and Political Participation, it has been renamed as the National Electoral Council, although it did not have the rank of Autonomous Institute (a state body without its own legal personality).

National Electoral Council - Electoral Power (1999 - Present)

Since the approval by referendum of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the National Electoral Council is elevated to the rank of national public power together with the executive, legislative, judicial and moral powers.

Organization of the National Electoral Council

National Electoral Council

The government of the National Electoral Council is made up of five Rectors, whose election is carried out by the National Assembly by qualified majority based on the nominations made as established in the National Constitution.

• 3 rectors are run by civil society with 6 alternates, promoted by public universities.
• 1 rector is run by the Councils of the Faculty of Legal Sciences of national public universities with two alternates.
• 1 rector is postulated by the Citizen Power with two alternates.

The National Electoral Council is organized into three large commissions that are led by three rectors (2 principals and 1 substitute) each, and a rector can belong to up to two commissions:

• National Electoral Board: responsible for the electoral process in terms of its organizational, administrative, logistical and legal definition.
• Civil and Electoral Registration Commission: responsible for the civil registration of Venezuela, as well as the administration, depuration and updating of the permanent electoral register.
• Political Participation and Financing Commission: it is responsible for moderating and promoting electoral political participation, as well as monitoring compliance with the rules and laws relating to the financing of political organizations.

CNE authorities

(*) Tania D'Amelio, was retired by the CNE, the electoral body is awaiting the appointment of a replacement, she was a member rector and president of the National Electoral Board, as well as a member of the Civil and Electoral Registry Commission.

Regional Electoral Offices

The regional electoral offices are the administrative representation of the National Electoral Council in each of the federal entities of the Republic. These offices are managed by a Director appointed by the National Electoral Council.

Electoral Boards

Electoral boards are confirmed at the state and municipal level. Its members are selected by lottery among the citizens registered in the permanent electoral registry and report to the National Electoral Board. The electoral boards are in charge of ensuring the adequate development of the electoral process and processing the results of the federal entities they represent. Additionally, the electoral boards supervise the composition and work of the polling stations.

Criticism

Venezuela's electoral system has been questioned on numerous occasions. In 2005, it was alleged that the Supreme Court of Justice, with a majority in favor of Chávez, elected officials to Venezuela's National Electoral Council despite the fact that the 1999 Constitution stipulated that the National Assembly would carry out that task. This resulted in the council director of the CNE having a majority made up of people affected by Chavismo. Since then, the Venezuelan government, controlled by the ruling party PSUV, has rigged the elections, maintaining control of the CNE, the use of the media and government spending. Meanwhile, according to the United States Department of State, there is "general pre- and post-election fraud, including electoral irregularities, government interference, and voter manipulation" and "opposition political parties [have] operated in a restrictive atmosphere characterized by intimidation, the threat of prosecution or administrative sanction on questionable charges, and restricted access to the media." International observers have had difficulty monitoring the elections.

On June 12, 2020, the Supreme Court of Justice appointed the rectors of the CNE, after the controversial sentence of legislative omission of the Parliament of opposition majority who has the protest according to the Constitution of Venezuela to choose the directors of the electoral entity, agreed between the government of Nicolás Maduro and the interim government of Juan Guaidó.

Although the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela authorizes the Supreme Court of Justice to appoint the members of the electoral body when a minimum percentage of deputies is not reached in the National Assembly, beyond the conformation of the electoral body, the very organization of the electoral act and the conformation of the polling stations in the voting centers ensures the invulnerability of the vote since they are made up of members of the community chosen at random, witnesses and representatives of the political parties. For its part, the electoral act is completely electronic with the following steps:

• 1. The elector enables the vote through its fingerprint, which guarantees an elector, one vote.
• 2. The voter makes his selection on the touch screen of the team.
• 3. The voting machine prints a voucher and the voter checks it and enters the poll.
• 4. At the end of the electoral event, the results are totaled, transmitted by each ballot box and the corresponding records are printed.
• 5. 90% of the polls are audited with community presence.
• 6. Copies of records are delivered to representatives of political parties present who transmit them to their own computing centres.
• As can be seen, both voters and participating political organizations can verify the will of the elector on several occasions of the electoral event, which makes electoral results difficult.

Intervention of the Supreme Court of Justice in 2020

On June 5, 2020, the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela (TSJ) declared the constitutional omission of the National Assembly and was empowered to designate the rectors of the National Electoral Council. On June 11, 2020, the IV legislature of the National Assembly did not recognize the decision of the TSJ and decided to continue with the process of nominating candidates for rectors of the CNE that was paralyzed during the months of the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite the fact that there is no precedent or legal support in the Venezuelan Constitution for the intervention of the TSJ, on June 13, 2020, it appoints the new rectors of the electoral power based on the sentence that declared the omission of the legislative power.

Republic Plan

The Republic Plan is a military deployment carried out during all the electoral processes whose main purpose is the protection of order and security during the elections in Venezuela. Among other functions of the Plan República are the delivery of electoral material during the installation of the voting centers, the protection of the same, assistance to voters of the elderly, pregnant or with some disability, facilitation of the entry of technicians, witnesses, national observers and duly accredited international escorts, removal of contingency material if necessary, delivery of electoral records and instruments to the National Electoral Board and corresponding Regional Electoral Office and receipt of the transfer of electoral material to the CNE warehouses.