Late on Sunday, July 28, 2024, the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) announced a narrow victory in the Presidential elections for Nicolas Maduro, claiming he secured 51% of the votes against 44% for the main opposition leader, Edmundo Gonzales. This initial announcement was met with skepticism, given the country’s history of disputed election results.

Since the ascension of Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's political landscape has been deeply divided, with the integrity of its electoral processes becoming a critical issue nationally and internationally. Every election since Chavez, and subsequently under Nicolas Maduro, has been contested. Despite fervent claims by opposition leaders, conclusive proof of electoral fraud has remained elusive, casting a persistent shadow of doubt over the outcomes.

The latest presidential election on July 28, 2024, was no exception. 

Silence reigned on the part of the MUD (opposition party) until the evening of Monday, July 29th, when Maria Corina Machado, leader of the opposition, convened a press conference. Machado asserted that Edmundo Gonzales had decisively won, obtaining over 6 million votes to Maduro's 2 million, a claim backed by data from over 75% of all physical voting acts that had been meticulously secured and digitized.

From July 28 to July 29, a monumental effort was underway across Venezuela by the MUD party. Tens of thousands of volunteers, witnesses, and data workers collaborated to secure, scan, and organize each voting act from the country’s thousands of voting tables— all within a 24-hour period. This rapid mobilization was crucial in assembling a comprehensive and transparent electoral dataset.


In a pioneering move towards democracy, the Venezuelan opposition effectively circumvented the official results announced by the CNE. Any Venezuelan citizen can independently verify the results of their voting table by visiting resultadospresidencialesvenezuela2024.com and entering their ID number.

The voting process itself is designed to foster confidence and transparency: each voting act is printed, signed, and ratified by representatives from both political parties at each voting station. This procedure ensures that every vote is verifiable and traceable, provided that the physical voting acts are securely maintained.

This unprecedented level of transparency, previously unattainable, is taking the Venezuelan people to the streets demanding accountability from Nicolas Maduro's regime.

This bold approach to open-sourcing its election data could serve as an inspiration for other nations grappling with similar democratic challenges. By leveraging technology and encouraging active civic participation, Venezuela is not merely fighting for its democracy; it is also forging a path toward a new era of government transparency and public trust in electoral processes.

Thanks for reading,
- Ricardo (ricardo@hey.com)

Disclaimer: The author of this piece is a Venezuelan ex-pat with strong political opinions. This article has been processed in an effort to strip bias and present the claims neutrally.