VENEZUELA'S ELECTORAL COUNCIL WOBBLING TOWARD THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 002251 SIPDIS NSC FOR CBARTON USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD STATE PASS USAID FOR DCHA/OTI E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/12/2014 TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM VE SUBJECT: VENEZUELA'S ELECTORAL COUNCIL WOBBLING TOWARD THE RECALL REFERENDUM REF: A. CARACAS 2108 ¶B. CARACAS 2201 ¶C. CARACAS 2207 Classified By: Abelardo A. Arias, Acting Deputy Chief of Mission, for R easons 1.4(b) and (d). -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) The National Electoral Council (CNE) continued preparations for the August 15 recall referendum against President Hugo Chavez. Citing logistical difficulties, the CNE decided July 13 not to expand the number of voting centers, primarily in poor neighborhoods, as contemplated previously. The CNE board reportedly approved invitations for international observers, but as of July 15 no invitations had been issued. According to a contractor for the Smartmatic consortium supplying election machines, CNE officials tried to take over operation of parts of the automated voting system, which will be tested in a nationwide simulation July 18. End summary. -------------- -------------- CNE Closes Voting Center Lists, Agrees On Observers -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) The National Electoral Council (CNE) announced July 13 it would not add 1000 voting centers to poor areas or reconfigure voting table distribution in an effort to increase voting there as previously contemplated. CNE Director Jorge Rodriguez said the change would have required the redistribution of two million voters, which would have been too hard to do before the August 15 presidential recall referendum. With the list of voting centers finalized, the Smartmatic consortium can now finish wiring the existing voting centers for the automated voting system. Smartmatic is still waiting for the CNE to give them the numbers of voters registered at each of the 19,200 electoral tables so the voting machines can be programmed. ¶3. (C) The CNE approved on July 14 the list of international observers for the referendum. The list reportedly contains 47 organizations and 17 international personalities who will participate, including Nobel Prize winners Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Rigoberta Menchu, and Joseph Stiglitz. Carter Center representative Edgardo Mimica told poloff July 15 they still had not received the formal invitation from the CNE. He said CNE officials told him "maybe next week." Pro-Chavez CNE Director Oscar Battaglini said in a press interview that the Carter Center and OAS would be invited, but added they must accept the sovereignty of the CNE and the conditions the CNE has for observer missions. He said in no case would an observer be permitted to make public statements or contradict a decision by the CNE like the OAS and Carter Center had done in the past. State television director Vladimir Villegas told Charge July 13 that OAS and Carter Center would be invited -- but that the GOV really wanted an additional observer presence. -------------- Simulation Set For July 18 -------------- ¶4. (U) The CNE announced it would hold a referendum simulation July 18 to test the automated voting system and the fingerprint capture system. The test will use 4,768 voting machines the state capitals and major cities. Twenty fingerprint machines will be tested in Caracas and a handful of states. CNE Alternate Director Tibisay Lucena told reporters July 13 that international observers would be invited to watch the simulation (Note: Though the OAS and CNE have not been formally invited, other international observers have been visiting the CNE, such as representatives of the Andean Electoral Council, the Ecuadorian electoral authority, and CAPEL, the regional electoral organization located in Costa Rica.) -------------- Mejias Gives Testimony About Registry -------------- ¶5. (U) Pro-opposition CNE Director Sobella Mejias complied with a summons to be interviewed July 13 in the Attorney General's office (Fiscalia General). Rodriguez filed a complaint in June alleging Mejias, in her capacity as head of the CNE's electoral registry commission, had failed to remove more than 50,000 deceased persons from the registry prior to the signature appeals drive. Mejias spent six hours with prosecutors, with delays caused by errors in the official complaint that required correcting. Pro-opposition Director Ezequiel Zamora told reporters later that it is odd that the Attorney General chose to follow up on this complaint when there are thousands of others that are not addressed. Rodriguez is scheduled to give testimony July 16. -------------- -------------- CNE Signs With Smartmatic, But Not Without Wrinkles -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) The CNE signed on July 14 the $27 million service contract with the Smartmatic consortium for the automated electoral system. Additionally, Smartmatic contractor Jorge Tirado told poloff July 12 the CNE had sought to replace the 8,000 CANTV voting machine operators with CNE personnel. The Smartmatic consortium refused citing the necessity to have its own trained people on the ground during the referendum. Tirado said a compromise had been worked out that would allow the CNE to have 8,000 workers watching the 8,000 CANTV operators, and inform poll workers of any irregularities with the voting machines. Tirado also said a group of 32 software professors from public universities continued to audit a portion of Smartmatic's software codes. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶7. (C) International observation continues to be the Chavez's Achilles' heel, so we can expect the CNE to continue to foot-drag over invitations to respectable entities like the OAS and Carter Center while they showboat other so-called observers like the Andean Electoral Council or Rigoberta Menchu. Each day that passes without the OAS and Carter Center observer missions on the ground erodes the effectiveness of international observation and, hence, the transparency of the referendum. McFarland NNNN 2004CARACA02251 - CONFIDENTIAL