Venezuelan specialists debate viability of holding presidential elections within a year

Specialists in Venezuela are discussing whether it is technically viable to organize presidential elections in less than a year. Former rectors of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Andrés Caleca and Vicente Díaz, believe it is possible, provided a political agreement can be reached to renew the electoral body and purify the voter registry.

This discussion follows opposition leader María Corina Machado's earlier assertion that elections could be held within 10 months. More recently, Dinorah Figuera, president of the 2015 National Assembly's Delegated Commission, indicated that the CNE would be reinstituted in December, aligning with a U.S. plan for political transition.

Caleca emphasized that the electoral process should be the culmination of negotiation, allowing for a discussion of conditions. Both Caleca and Díaz identified the renewal of the CNE as a crucial step for building citizen confidence and ensuring process transparency. They recalled the alleged electoral fraud of July 28, 2024, where the democratic opposition claimed Edmundo González Urrutia won with nearly 70% of the votes, but the CNE, led by Elvis Amoroso, allegedly failed to publish the results as required by law.

Díaz stated that the electoral authority's current state is unacceptable and that negotiating the path toward changes is indispensable for a balanced process. Caleca deemed the idea of Amoroso continuing to lead the CNE and calling new elections "absurd" and "unacceptable." Furthermore, the former rectors highlighted the need to modify electoral laws to ensure that designated CNE rectors are not affiliated with political parties, criticizing the current practice of individuals resigning from parties only to be appointed to electoral or judicial positions.