International Election
Observers Arrive in
Venezuela
Caracas - A total of 134
international observers
arrived in Venezuela on
Thursday for the
country's upcoming
regional elections,
electoral authorities
said.
The observers, from 52
countries, including
Canada, the United
States, Spain, Argentina
and Brazil, will be
deployed in 10 of
Venezuela's 23 states
and in the federal
district of Caracas,
according to electoral
authorities.
Delegates from the Latin
American and Caribbean
Economic System(SELA),
the Common Market of the
South (Mercosur) and the
Organization of American
States (OAS) also will
be on hand.
Tibisay Lucena,
president of the
Venezuelan Electoral
National Council,
welcomed the observers
and said their presence
"will show the world the
electoral process in
Venezuela."
Almost 17 million
Venezuelans are
registered to vote
Sunday to choose 22
governors, 328 mayors
and 233 local
legislators.
Amazonas is the only
state without elections
because of a previous
electoral conflict.
The international
observers Thursday
attended a seminar to
learn about the
electronic voting system
used in Venezuela.
Michael Ray, an
observers from the
National Association of
Lawyers of the U.S.,
told Xinhua he was
interested in
Venezuela's automated
electoral system. "It
will increase the trust
in the results," he
said.
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