ELECTORAL COUNCIL RECTOR ON 2010 ELECTIONS, TE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 02 OF 03 CARACAS 00119 SIPDIS HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/03/2029 TAGS: PGOV KDEM VE SUBJECT: ELECTORAL COUNCIL RECTOR ON 2010 ELECTIONS, TE OPPOSITION, AND VOTER FRAUD *********************** * Missing Section 001 * *********************** CARACAS 00000119 002.2 OF 003 as Venevision hd been intimidated into favoring Chavista candidtes with their programming. Diaz asserted that the imbalance in free media AIR time between the GBRV and the opposition and self-censorship and partisanship by the media were the biggest obstaces to establishing a fair electoral playing fiel. -------------- -- ELECTORAL REGISTRY FRAUD: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHNG -------------- -- ¶6. (C) Diaz downplayed opposition complaint about inaccuracies in the REP, which was only a good as the information fed into it. He noted tat much of Venezuela's poor majority -- as many s 1.6 million people, or abot ten percent of the voting population -- do not have physical addresses since they live in barrios that are not formally zoned and registered. Additionally, many Venezuelans registered prior to 1996, when legislation was passed that required a physical address to register. Moreover, many voters never submit updated name and address information to the CNE, and deceased voters often remain on the REP due to paperwork delays. Diaz rejected opposition claims that they lacked the same level of access to the REP as the GBRV, contending that an updated copy of the list was sent to each political party every month and that all the information was available online, except for voters' addresses, which the Venezuelan Supreme Court (TSJ) had ruled were protected as private information. ¶7. (C) Diaz dismissed the opposition's fraud conspiracies, claiming that of thousands of investigations of alleged voter fraud, the CNE had only established eighteen instances of a person voting illegally, such as voting twice in the same election. He speculated that some of the most sensational allegations might have been generated by the PSUV's political intelligence apparatus to discourage opposition voters, who would feel that "it wasn't worth it to vote." Diaz argued that the opposition's real challenge was to register the approximately 1.3 million potential young voters. The CNE had not issued any publicity surrounding its latest voter registration drive, a fact Diaz saw as an intentional decision by the CNE's Chavista majority to prevent the registry of youths likely to support the opposition. -------------- -- OPPOSITION CANDIDATE SELECTION: NO EASY ANSWERS -------------- -- ¶8. (C) Diaz lamented that there was no way for the CNE to force the opposition parties to democratize. He observed that the most "democratic" party in Venezuela, the PSUV, held the most autocratic vision for Venezuela, while those parties with the most progressive political agenda were the most authoritarian in their internal affairs. He worried that important leaders within the opposition who either did not run in the 2008 state and local elections, or who were not favored by their party leaders, would not be selected as candidates in the 2010 elections. ¶9. (C) When asked about opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez's calls for nationwide opposition primaries to select candidates for the 2010 elections (see septel),Diaz noted Lopez's serious underestimate of the cost and questioned the likelihood of the opposition agreeing to hold them. However, Diaz said the electoral timeline would have a deadline, probably May, to hold opposition primaries, and he suggested the parties seek consensus until that date, and then hold primaries for any remaining contested slots. Diaz said he was looking for ways to minimize the cost of the primaries, which the Constitution requires the CNE to charge non-government entities, so that "cost" did not become an excuse for not holding them. Since the election for AN Deputies involves both a party slate of candidates and a list of individual candidates ("nominales"),Diaz suggested that the November 2008 state and local election results be used to determine the relative weight of each opposition party in the "opposition party slate," and that primaries be used to select the slate of individual candidates. -------------- -------------- CNE Rectors: United on Political Issues, Divided by Personalities -------------- -------------- ¶10. (C) Diaz described the four Chavista rectors as divided into two camps that were not on speaking terms: President *********************** * Missing Section 003 * ***********************