Venezuela: Fire in warehouse destroys nearly 50,000 voting machines

A massive fire in the warehouse over the weekend has reportedly destroyed almost 50,000 voting machines, 582 computers in Venezuela, confirmed the electoral council. Electoral council chief Tibisay Lucena said that the country’s elections went up in flames and the prosecutors were investigating the cause of the fire. She, however, did not say whether elections were affected due to the damage.

Lucena said in a press conference that a deadly fire erupted in 6,000 sq m (65,000 sq ft) warehouse in Mariche, East of Caracas, on March 7. She said that systems belonging to the civil registry, 49,408 voting machines, and 400 electronic ballots were consumed in the blaze. She further added saying that while the warehouse was the primary storage facility of the National Electoral Council (CNE), the electoral process was far from affected. Nothing much had remained from the accident despite herculean rescue efforts, Lucena stated.

Cause of the fire

Lucena addressed the international media reporters saying that nothing was ruled out. Venezuela's National Constituent Assembly, the CNE and its infrastructure were targeted. She emphasized that the Venezuelan elections in 2017 were held despite those that attacked operators, charred the vehicles, made death threats, and burnt the voting booths. Those responsible must not be deceived assuming that the electoral process was stalled, she added, they haven’t accounted for the determination of the administrators of the electoral branch.

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There have been allegations of fraudulent activity as per the reports. The company that provided for the 2017 voting system alleged that the constituent assembly polling turnout was exceeded by one million via unfair means. There have been speculations that the 2018 presidential election that was a sweeping victory for President Nicolás Maduro for a 6-year term was rigged. CNE, the official body assigned to ensure transparency of the electoral procedure has been under criticism for slander practices, as per the media reports.

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