VENEZUELA – The United Nations’ Human Rights Committee has ordered Venezuela “to refrain from destroying” the voting tallies from July’s presidential election. The voting tallies – a detailed official breakdown of the votes from each polling station – have been at the centre of the dispute over who won the election. The government-aligned National Electoral Council (CNE) declared the incumbent, President Nicolás Maduro, the winner but failed to provide the voting tallies to back up its claim.

The opposition, which with the help of accredited election witnesses collected and published more than 80% of the voting tallies, says these prove that its candidate, Edmundo González, was the overwhelming winner. The Human Rights Committee – a UN body made up of 18 independent experts – said it was investigating allegations of electoral fraud following a complaint brought by a law firm on behalf of a Venezuelan voter.

As part of that investigation, the committee demanded that the Venezuelan state preserve the detailed voting data from the presidential election on 28 July. There has been huge pressure on the CNE – which is stacked with government loyalists – to release the voting tallies. But more than four months on from the election, it still has not done so, blaming an alleged computer hack on election night for its unprecedented failure to provide the data within 30 days of the election date. In contrast, the opposition quickly uploaded the voting tallies it had gathered onto a website. Independent observers and media, including the New York Times and CNN, say those tallies suggest that Edmundo González won the election with 67% of the votes compared to Maduro’s 30%. (BBC)

Photo: The opposition says the voting tallies prove its candidate won the election. (Reuters)