The rector of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Socorro Hernández, said that an election mock held on Sunday to simulate the upcoming October 7 presidential election in Venezuela had positive results in 55 polling stations nationwide. According to Hernandez, this vote simulation confirmed the proper coordination among all actors involved in the electoral process, the proper placement of the electoral circuit and voting time.
"All reports indicated that this simulation worked perfectly. All actors involved in the process were present, we verified that electoral operators were on time and that the polling centers were opened at 8:00 a.m.," Hernandez said.
Likewise, Hernández said that voter turnout worked as expected considering it was a small-scale simulation. "It was a small-scale simulation, only 226,293 eligible voters were able to participate in 55 polling stations opened [throughout the country]. Nevertheless, all the nationwide reports indicated that voters participated as they usually do in this kind of simulations, in which participation is voluntary.”
On August 26, the National Electoral Council will carry out a second nationwide vote simulation, but this time the over 18.9 million eligible voters who will cast their ballots in the October 7 presidential election will participate, Hernández said. About 2,000 polling stations will be opened for this vote simulation.
Integrated Authentication System
The Integrated Authentication System, a device to identify voters through fingerprinting, was tested for the first time with eligible voters and reported no problems, CNE vice president Sandra Oblitas told reporters on Monday.
Oblitas said that she was pleased with the results of the Sunday vote simulation, "It was an excellent test," she said.
The Sunday vote simulation was the first test with eligible voters carried out by the National Electoral Council before the October 7 presidential election. This time, the electoral platform, with the new Integrated Authentication System and a bigger electronic ballot screen, was tested.
AVN / Press Office -Venezuelan Embassy to the U.S/ August 7, 2012
