Arizona lawmakers question Venezuelan presidential election results

(The Center Square) – Arizona officials on both sides of the aisle have expressed concern over the announced results of Venezuela’s presidential election. 

What many people thought would be a landslide in favor of Edmundo Gonzalez, the candidate opposing longtime socialist leader Nicolas Maduro, was announced on Sunday as a victory for Maduro – leaving many Venezuelans confused. According to reporting by the Associated Press, Gonzalez said that he has received more than 70% of the tally sheets from the election and they show that Gonzalez had double the amount of votes that Maduro did.

Countries and political leaders across the nation have stated that they do not officially accept the election results. Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State, said that Washington had “serious concerns” that the election results did not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people.

“The Venezuelan people showed up in huge numbers to vote for the return of democracy, economic opportunity and the rule of law,” wrote Democratic Congressman Greg Stanton, who represents Arizona’s fourth district, on X. “Maduro must respect the will of the people. The United States and the international community are watching.”

This is where Arizona Democrats and Republicans seem to agree – elections must be free and fair.

AZ Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borrelli said that the election results seem “suspicious” to him. While information has not yet been released on how or if the election was stolen or the ballots tampered with, AZ Rep. John Gillette, said that he knows two people who were election workers that were delivering ballot boxes in Venezuela, and they believed the boxes had been filled with fraudulent votes for Maduro.

In Venezuela, voters use electronic machines which record the votes and provide each voter with a receipt showing who they voted for. Each person then deposits their receipt in a ballot box. At the end, the machine prints out a tally sheet, showing how many votes each candidate received.

At this time, Gillette believes that it will be up to the military or the citizens on what happens next. Maduro has claimed victory and maintains control against the wishes of many protesters who have been demonstrating since the results were announced.

“We’re not going to have a free and fair election there,” Gillette said. “The only thing we’re looking for is a military coup or an uprising of the people.”

Although Blinken released a statement doubting the results of the Venezuelan presidential election, no further action has been taken by the U.S.

Gillette said that he believes the U.S. should “stay out of it.”

“We need to keep our mouths shut,” Gillette said. “We don’t need to fund anyone else’s garbage until we fix our own,” stating that U.S. elections are not free or fair either.

“We’ve got to fix our own problems first,” Gillette said.

The Venezuelan presidential election is continuing to be disputed as Arizona citizens cast their votes in the primary election.

The polls for the state primary election are open until 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Voters in Maricopa County can find their closest polling location at elections.maricopa.gov/voting/where-to-vote.html, voters in Pima County can find their closest polling location at recorder.pima.gov/voterstats/PollingLocationSearch and all other voters can visit my.arizona.vote to find their polling locations.

In order to participate, voters must bring valid identification either a photo ID or two forms of ID if they don’t include a photograph.

Fontes encourages people to be aware of the upcoming heatwave when going to polling locations and many locations will be equipped with cooling centers providing relief from the heat. More information on what to expect on election day can be found at https://azsos.gov/elections/voters.