The Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice validated the results issued by the National Electoral Council (CNE) where they give President Nicolás Maduro as the winner. Such decision is contained in a ruling whose operative part was read this Thursday from the auditorium of the highest court of Venezuela in the presence of the diplomatic corps accredited in the country and rectors of the CNE, among others.
The reading of the sentence was carried out by Judge Carislya Beatriz Rodríguez, president of the TSJ and the Electoral Chamber, who was accompanied by her colleagues Fanny Márquez and Inocencio Figueroa. This ruling is the response to a contentious electoral appeal filed by President Nicolás Maduro so that the Chamber “clarifies everything that needs to be clarified.”
Once the expert opinion was carried out, the magistrates concluded that the bulletins issued by the CNE are supported by the tally sheets transmitted by each of the voting machines and maintain full coincidence with the data records of the national totalization centers.
“We certify in an unobjectionable manner the expertized electoral material and validate the results issued by the CNE where Nicolás Maduro Moros was elected,” says the ruling.
Through the ruling issued this Thursday, the magistrates urge the CNE to publish the final results of the presidential elections held on July 28. Furthermore, they send the sentence to the Public Ministry so that, if it so deems it, it can initiate the pertinent criminal investigations related to common and electoral crimes detected during the electoral process.
At one point in the sentence, the magistrates declared the former presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia in contempt because he neglected the summons issued to him by the Electoral Chamber to come on Thursday, August 8, and record the scrutiny records that they said they possessed, among others. other documents.
The expert opinion was carried out and it was concluded that the bulletins issued by the CNE are supported by the scrutiny records issued by each of the voting machines and fully coincide with the records in the databases of the national totalization centers.
The Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) certified "unquestionably" the electoral materials it examined and validated the results issued by the National Electoral Council (CNE) that elected Nicolás Maduro Moros.
The CNE was urged to publish the final results of the electoral process as provided for in article 155 of the Organic Law of Electoral Processes.
It is sent to the Attorney General so that all the elements are incorporated into the investigations being carried out regarding the alleged crimes (common electoral and constitutional) that could have been committed.
The Litigation step by step
-July 31, 2024. President Nicolás Maduro went to the Electoral Chamber of the TSJ and filed a contentious electoral appeal for its magistrates to verify and certify the results of the elections of July 28.
-1 August. The Electoral Chamber admits, undertakes and begins the verification process to certify results of the 28J electoral process. In that same event, the Chamber summoned the 10 presidential candidates.
-2 August. Nine of 10 presidential candidates went to the Electoral Chamber in response to the summons from that instance. That day, Judge Carislya Rodríguez read a commitment document that eight of the nine candidates present signed. The document makes it clear that the former candidates for the Miraflores seat undertake to respect the final decision of the Electoral Chamber in relation to the presidential elections. Enrique Márquez did not sign and Edmundo González left the chair empty.
-2 August. The Electoral Chamber issues a new ruling to summon the CNE and to record all the documentation derived from the electoral process of 28J, including the minutes of the counts.
-5 August. The full CNE went to the Electoral Room and recorded: scrutiny minutes, final totalization record, adjudication record, proclamation record and proof of the cyber attack.
-August 7 to 9. 9 of the 10 candidates attended as well as 38 representatives of the organizations that nominated them. Edmundo González's allied parties, that is, Platform of Unity, Un Nuevo Tiempo and Mesa de la Unidad Democratica, said they did not have any record or other document of the elections. “Súmate handled that,” Manuel Rosales said before the three magistrates of the Electoral Chamber, according to witnesses.
-10 August. The Electoral Chamber held a meeting with the diplomatic corps accredited in Venezuela before whom it read the device of a sentence that includes the main moments of the process open to the elections. In that sentence, the magistrates record the non-appearance of Edmundo González, a situation that constitutes contempt of a court order.
-18 August. The three magistrates of the Electoral Chamber moved to the main headquarters of the CNE to proceed with the validation of the physical records against those received at the totalization center on election day.
