5 WAYS VENE POLL WAS RIGGED

THE recent Venezuelan presidential election was rigged in at least five ways.

The respected New York Times newspaper used more tempered language in identifying “just how flawed the country’s democratic process” has become.

The tarnished system explains “why the victory claim by the country’s autocratic leader, President Nicolas Maduro, has provoked such fury,” according to the newspaper.

There was voter intimidation, with some electors being blocked from exercising their franchise, according to the newspaper.

One example was that around 50 armed police officers and national guardsmen formed a line outside, wearing helmets and body armour “in what appeared to be a show of power to anyone considering voting against the government.”

The second anomaly was that some voting stations were changed at the last minute, the New Times reported.

Another irregularity was that some polling places were kept open beyond the scheduled close.

This gave members of Maduro’s party “a chance to round up voters who had not yet cast their ballots,” the paper said.

It was noted that pro-government activists have “a machinery that mobilises the vote.”

A further abnormality was that paper vote tallies were withheld from opposition representatives.

“Without all the paper counts, the country was left without a way to verify the result announced by the ruling party,” the newspaper stated.

The fifth issue was that a full vote count was not published.

The official figures “did not appear to match statistical estimates based on partial counts gathered by opposition poll watchers and other data…”

That information “showed the president losing by a wide margin,” the New York Times reported.

Several countries have contested Maduro’s claim of re-election.

Election watchdog, the Carter Centre, said the election “cannot be considered democratic.”