Venezuelan Electoral Authority Announces Maduro’s Victory in 3rd Term, Despite Exit Polls Showing Contradictory Results

July 29, 2024 TruthUSA

CARACAS—Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has secured a third term with 51 percent of the vote, according to the country’s electoral authority’s announcement just after midnight on Monday. This victory came despite numerous exit polls indicating an opposition win.

The electoral authority reported that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez garnered 44 percent of the vote. However, the opposition had initially expressed optimism, urging supporters to continue monitoring the vote count as they had “reasons to celebrate.”

“The results cannot be hidden. The country has peacefully chosen a change,” Mr. Gonzalez stated on X around 11 p.m. local time before the official results were released.

Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez gestures as he arrives at a polling station to vote in the country's presidential election, in Caracas, Venezuela, on July 28, 2024. (Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters) — Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez gestures as he arrives at a polling station to vote in the country’s presidential election, in Caracas, Venezuela, on July 28, 2024. (Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado reiterated the call for the country’s military to respect the election results.

“A message for the military. The people of Venezuela have spoken: they don’t want Maduro,” she declared earlier on X. “It is time to put yourselves on the right side of history. You have a chance and it’s now.”

Venezuela’s military has consistently supported Mr. Maduro, a 61-year-old former bus driver and foreign minister, and there have been no public indications of the armed forces’ leaders distancing themselves from the government.

An exit poll from Edison Research, renowned for U.S. election polling, had initially projected Mr. Gonzalez winning 65 percent of the vote, with Mr. Maduro at 31 percent.

Local firm Meganalisis had forecasted a 65 percent vote for Mr. Gonzalez and just under 14 percent for Mr. Maduro.

Approximately 80 percent of ballot boxes have been tallied, stated national electoral council (CNE) president Elvis Amoroso in a televised announcement, attributing the delayed results to an “aggression” against the electoral data transmission system.

By Vivian Sequera, Deisy Buitrago, and Mayela Armas

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