Carter Center Releases Final Report on Venezuela's April 2013 Presidential Elections
The Carter Center today released the final report of the study mission that was deployed to Venezuela for the April 14, 2013, presidential elections. The report provides an extensive study of both election day as well as the pre- and post-election periods, including the results of the post-electoral audit process of the electoral system and the challenges to election results presented by the opposition.
Among the main conclusions presented, the report highlights that while the Venezuelan population, political parties, and candidates generally have shown confidence in the performance and integrity of the automated voting machines when counting votes, such trust is not automatically transferred to the particular conditions under which the vote took place, or to the capacity of the system to ensure that every registered voter can vote once and only once.
The findings highlight a number of inequities in campaign conditions, both in access to financial resources as well as in access to the media, which reduces the competitiveness of elections, especially in a legal context that allows the indefinite re-election of public officials.
The report provides electoral authorities, legislators, civil society representatives, and Venezuelans in general a number of recommendations to ensure greater equity in the development of political campaigns. The report recommends a) a more effective enforcement of the norms regulating the use of state resources for political purposes and the participation of officials and public servants in campaign activities; b) to provide all parties participating in the elections free and equal access to public and private media; c) to limit or prohibit the use of obligatory radio and television broadcasts and the inauguration of public works during the election period; and d) to limit the participation of public officials in campaign activities of members of his/her own party or coalition. The report also offers a series of recommendations to improve the quality of the voting experience during election day and promotes the revision of the current legal framework based on the experiences of past electoral processes. The report also recommends promoting transparency in relation to the acts and proceedings conducted by the electoral authorities.
More: http://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/venezuela-052214.html
(**The final report is available in Spanish only; an English version will be posted in June 2014.**)
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And of course I was called a right wing fascist supporter for citing those problems. 
