Associated Press’ Vote Count in Venezuela Raises Doubts About Maduro’s Victory

Analysis of Venezuelan opposition vote tallies by the Associated Press (AP) raises questions about the legitimacy of Maduro’s electoral victory.

The agency processed nearly 24,000 images of tally sheets from 79% of voting machines. Consequently, AP tabulated 10.26 million votes using QR codes on each sheet.

As one of the largest and oldest global news organizations, New York-based AP is comparable to major agencies like Reuters and Agence France-Presse (AFP).

As a result, opposition candidate Edmundo González received 6.89 million votes, surpassing Maduro’s reported total.

Meanwhile, the National Electoral Council claimed Maduro won with 6.4 million votes against González’s 5.3 million.

However, AP’s calculations show Maduro received only 3.13 million votes from the released tally sheets.

Subsequently, the opposition released scanned copies of tally sheets online for voters to verify.

Nevertheless, Maduro and his allies issued threats, prompting the campaign to release all scans.

Simultaneously, masked assailants ransacked the opposition’s headquarters, stealing documents and equipment.

Furthermore, high-ranking officials, including Maduro, threatened to arrest opposition leader María Corina Machado.

In response, the Biden administration recognized González as the rightful winner of the election.

Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, and Costa Rica joined the U.S. in recognizing González Urrutia as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

Additionally, several countries urged Venezuela’s electoral authorities to release precinct-level vote counts.

Associated Press’ Vote Count in Venezuela Raises Doubts About Maduro’s Victory

Consequently, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that González had clearly won the most votes.

Moreover, González expressed gratitude for U.S. recognition of the Venezuelan people’s will.

Meanwhile, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico have requested a fair and unbiased examination of the election outcomes.

However, the extent of Maduro’s influence over these ideologically aligned countries is unclear, casting doubt on their true positions.

Despite challenges, no allies or military personnel have distanced themselves from Maduro.

More: Venezuela news in English, every day from The Rio Times.

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