Smartmatic, the company in charge of conducting the voting for Venezuela’s July 30 referendum, has claimed that the turnout was fixed, BBC reported on Wednesday. The allegations were made by the Chief Executive Officer of Smartmatic, Antonio Mugica, at a press conference in London.
Mugica said that there was a discrepancy of 10 crore votes between the turnout figures announced by the Maduro government and those recorded by the company’s electronic voting systems, reported AP.
Venezuela’s electoral authorities said the turnout for the referendum on a new constituent assembly was 81 crore. But the Opposition claimed this figure has been inflated.
President Nicolas Maduro, who claimed 40% of Venezuela had voted, was declared winner of the referendum. However, the Opposition said the figure was only 12%.
Venezuela Opposition leaders Leopoldo Lopez and Antonio Ledezma were taken from their homes by intelligence agents on Tuesday morning.
On Monday, the United States had imposed sanctions on the Venezuelan government. It banned any US citizen from doing business with Maduro, and froze his assets. The British Foreign Office on Tuesday advised citizens against travelling to Venezuela except for essential reasons.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!