The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela set for next Wednesday, January 26, the day on which citizens will be able to collect, for twelve hours, the necessary signatures (corresponding to 20% of the electorate in each state) to activate the referendum. to remove Nicolás Maduro from the position of president.
“According to the decision of the electoral body, the day of reception of the expressions of will (collection of signatures) for the recall referendum will take place on January 26 between the hours of 6:00 (10:00 GMT) and 18.00 (22.00 GMT)”, the entity said in a press release.
He also indicated that 1,200 voting centers will be set up throughout the country for the day, taking into account the “electoral weight” of each region.
The CNE added that the electoral registry that will be used to validate this signature collection process will be the same one that was approved for the regional and local elections of last November 21, in which it is stated that there are 21,929,987 registered voters.
“In order to comply with the activation requirement of the presidential recall referendum, 20% of the electoral registry must be reached in each of them, as established by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) in 2016″ he added.
That is, in each state, the organizers must receive the support of at least 20% of the registered electorate.
The electoral entity assured that, if this goal is achieved, it will then organize the recall referendum, otherwise, it will consider the process finished.
If that happens, “the constitutional provision that establishes that a revocation request can only be made during the period for which the official was elected will be activated” and, therefore, another recall of Maduro cannot be promoted.
Likewise, he maintained that for the collection of signatures there will be accreditation of witnesses and audits will be carried out in order to ensure “transparency and security.”
On January 17, the CNE reported that it approved three requests to start the procedure for a possible recall referendum.
The approved requests were promoted by the Venezuelan Movement for Recall (Mover), Todos Unidos por el Referendum Revocatorio and the National Executive Committee of Confedejunta together with the Committee of National and International Democracy.
The Venezuelan opponent César Pérez Vivas, one of the promoters of the recall, criticized the schedule published by the CNE for this process.
“It is a farce to announce today for next Wednesday the opening of 1,200 collection centers for demonstrations of will so that 20 million citizens can exercise their right. That’s like putting 1,000 liters of water in a 5-liter container.” expressed on his Twitter account.
Article 72 of the Venezuelan constitution establishes the referendum for all positions of popular election, after half of the period for which they were elected with a number not less than 20% of registered voters, however, it does not indicate lapses for this collection. of signatures.
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
.
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
