The National Electoral Council (CNE) set the regional and municipal elections for Sunday, November 21 of this year, which, as in previous elections, will have the widest international oversight as a concrete result of the sustained dialogue efforts between the Bolivarian Government and sectors of the democratic opposition.
The president of the CNE, Pedro Calzadilla, along with Vice-president Enrique Márquez and the main rectors Roberto Picón, Alexis Corredor and Tania D’Amelio, reported that they unanimously approved the proposed schedule presented by the National Electoral Board (JNE), which will be published soon on the official website of the CNE on the Internet www.cne.gob.ve.
Before the announcement of the date for the elections of governors, mayors, councilors, and deputies of the legislative councils, the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro, celebrated the decision of the Electoral Power and reiterated his willingness to dialogue with all political sectors.
Likewise, Rector Calzadilla stressed that, for the sake of transparency and the reliability of the results, in these elections 16 audits of the automated voting system will be carried out, which will be attended by technicians from the different organizations with political and international electoral experts.
He assured that the CNE has taken measures “to guarantee” the elections and “to give the greatest participation to political organizations and all political actors” with a democratic vocation in the country.
The CNE authorities agreed to guarantee the broadest international oversight program, therefore, according to the schedule, they will send the corresponding invitations in a timely manner to favor the greatest possible presence.
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The president of the highest electoral body also indicated that the special day for the registration and updating of data in the Electoral Registry will begin on June 1 and end on July 15.
Similarly, he specified that the application period will begin on August 9 and end on the 29th of the same month, while the period for modifications or substitutions of applications will be between September 8 and 22. The electoral campaign will begin on October 28 and will end on November 18.
The electoral authority highlighted the historical importance of regional and municipal elections in Venezuela, stating that municipalities are the inheritance of the old councils, instances in which political sovereignty was exercised for the first time in the Bolivarian nation.
The recent appointment of new authorities in the CNE for the electoral guarantees that must accompany the voting processes derives from the agreements reached in the National Dialogue Table for coexistence, installed in September 2019 between the Government and opposition sectors.