The presidential election in Venezuela on 28 July has heightened existing concerns about the integrity of the nation’s long-besieged democratic processes. The official results declared Nicolás Maduro the victor, but the electoral authorities have not released detailed voting data, while independent observers and credible independent projections tell a very different story, indicating massive fraud.

 

As scholars dedicated to the study of democracy and election integrity, we are deeply concerned about the implications for the future of Venezuela and about the widespread violence and repression in the aftermath of the elections. We condemn the brutal response by the security forces, resulting in numerous deaths and hundreds of arrests. We demand full transparency and accountability in counting the votes.

 

According to the AltaVista Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) initiative, an independent, civil society-run effort designed to produce a verifiable, scientifically accurate estimation of the national vote count, opposition candidate Edmundo González won slightly more than 66% of the votes, while Maduro managed only 31%. AltaVista has been validated by internationally renowned scholars and widely reported on by the media.

 

The AltaVista results align with vote tallies reviewed by The Associated Press and The Washington Post, as well as findings in Edison Research's exit poll, and are in stark contrast to the Venezuelan National Electoral Council’s official announcement, which claimed Maduro won with 51% against González’s 44%. This raises fundamental questions about the integrity of the electoral process and the legitimacy of the results.

 

Reactions from international organizations with extensive experience in election observation have been unequivocal. Both the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Carter Center have condemned the election as fraudulent and failing to meet international standards of electoral integrity. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for full transparency regarding the outcome of the elections, and demanded the Maduro regime publish the results and the breakdown by polling stations, a plea shared by many other world leaders.

 

A majority of countries in the region have also condemned the lack of transparency, including Chile, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Argentina, Uruguay, and Peru, while Mexico, Brazil and Colombia have released an official statement calling for the Venezuelan authorities to make publicly available all vote tallies.

Democracy in Venezuela has been under siege for far too long, and the recent elections have brought this crisis to a head. The international community must stand with the people of Venezuela, recognize González’s victory as a reflection of their true will, and do its utmost to promote a peaceful and democratic transition.

 

Alberto Diaz-Cayeros, Senior Fellow, Center on Democracy, Development and Rule of Law at Stanford University
Beatriz Magaloni, Professor of Political Science at Stanford University
Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser, Professor at the Catholic University of Chile

Francis Fukuyama, Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow, FSI Director, Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy

Jennifer Cyr, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Political Science, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella
Julieta Suarez-Cao, Associate Professor of Politics at the Catholic University of Chile

Kati Marton, author of eight books, board member and former chair of the Committee to Protect Journalists
Kenneth Roberts, Professor of Government at Cornell University

Larry Diamond, William L. Clayton Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution
Laura Gamboa, Assistant Professor at the University of Notre Dame

Maria Hermínia Tavares, Emerita Professor of Political Science at the University of São Paulo

Maria Victoria Murillo, Director of the Institute of Latin American Studies, and Professor of Political Science & International Affairs at Columbia University

Matias Spektor, Professor of Politics and International Relations at the School of International Relations at Fundação Getulio Vargas
Michael Albertus, Professor at the University of Chicago

Pedro Telles, Adjunct Professor at Fundação Getulio Vargas and Senior Atlantic Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science

Simon Cheng Man-kit, Hong Kong activist, formerly a trade and investment officer at the British Consulate-General in Hong Kong

Steven Levitsky, Professor of Government and Director of David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University

Susan Stokes, Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago

Tulia Falleti, Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania