Statement of the Electoral Observer Mission of the Organization of American States in Venezuela

November 28, 2005

The Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Venezuela has concentrated its efforts over the last week on the observation and auditing of the automated voting system and the consideration of concerns expressed by citizens and political parties. The Mission also began the process of placing observers in 22 of the country's 24 states.

Within this framework, in a meeting held on Sunday, November 27, the Mission received from the leaders of the political parties that together form the Unity Alliance a request to be transmitted to the National Electoral Council (CNE) that digital fingerprint readers not be used so as to assure the secrecy of the vote and secure the participation of said political parties in the elections scheduled for December 4. The representatives participating in the meeting with the CNE were Henry Ramos (AD); Cesar Perez Vivas (COPEI); Julio Borges, Gerardo Blyde, and Juan Carlos Caldera (Primero Justicia); Leopoldo Puchi (MAS); Adalberto Perez, Enrique Martinez, and Ana Ferrer (UNTC); and Enrique Mendoza.

As is regular procedure with all Missions of the OAS, the above-mentioned request was transmitted to officials at the CNE. The Mission was present today at the meeting at which the CNE accepted the request of the political parties and where said parties committed themselves to participating in the elections and encouraging citizens to vote, noting that, "the secrecy of the vote in this process will not be violated." They similarly expressed that save an extraordinary event, the guarantees offered to this date permit the elections to proceed as scheduled without any new requests from the political parties involved. The Mission is satisfied that the efforts of the political parties and the CNE produced important advances to generate confidence in the electoral process.

The Organic Law of Suffrage and Political Participation has mandated the automating of the Venezuelan electoral system. The current automated system is sophisticated and complex, and represents an important advancement towards this end. The system requires the continuous participation of political parties and the citizenry to develop safeguards and human and technological controls that allow for the constant verification of its functions and to generate confidence in the electoral process.

As such, and as expressed in the statement dated November 19, the Mission has observed other important advances in the offering of guarantees requested by political parties in the opposition that should generate further confidence and participation by the citizenry.

The Mission wishes to express its satisfaction for the conclusions reached in the dialogue between the CNE and the political parties, because they demonstrate that through a system of permanent participation the development of a transparent and safe electoral system is possible.

The Mission expects that all institutions, in respecting the commitments they have assumed, the guarantees offered, and the existing laws, contribute to the realization of successful elections on December 4, reaffirming one more time that the electoral process constitutes the only democratic means to elect, change, or ratify leaders. The Mission also trusts that the participation of the citizenry on December 4 will triumph over abstention.