Maduro Rival Summoned Over Uploaded Venezuelan Vote Records
(Bloomberg) -- Venezuela’s top prosecutor summoned opposition leader Edmundo González over the uploading of voting records that appeared to show that he won by a landslide in last month’s presidential election.
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The summons by Attorney General Tarek William Saab comes after Saab also opened a criminal investigation into González on Aug. 5 for incitement to disobey laws, insurrection and misinformation, among other offenses.
González, who stood against President Nicolás Maduro in the July 28 vote, called on Friday for Venezuelans to unite to defend the nation’s freedom and sovereignty. In a post in X, he asked the international community to “remain firm” in its demands for transparency and respect of electoral results. González has been in hiding for weeks.
Venezuela’s electoral authority, which is controlled by Maduro, said the president was reelected with 51.95% of votes cast. That claim has been contested by the opposition, which says it has evidence from more than 80% of the voting records showing a win for González.
In the days after the election, the opposition uploaded copies of hundreds of voting records to a website where citizens can check results from their voting centers. The US and other nations have said González was the rightful winner, citing the tallies the opposition made available online.
While Venezuela’s electoral authority has yet to publicly present the records, the nation’s top court certified Maduro’s win on Thursday, after saying it analyzed voting data supplied by the electoral authority and several political parties. The court is made up of Maduro appointees and has been loyal to him during his presidency.
Some Maduro allies, including Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro, have urged the government to publish the voting tallies.
(Updates with González comment in third paragraph)
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