WORLD NEWS
Elections in Venezuela 2024: which are the USA locations for voting from abroad?
President Nicolás Maduro is fighting for another six-year team in office. Venezuelans overseas will find issues trying to cast their votes.
On Sunday, July 28 Venezuela will elect its next president. Venezuelans have ten candidates to choose between to govern for the next six years, from 2025 to 2031. Included in that number is President Nicolás Maduro, who is seeking re-election after 11 years in power.
The other candidates for the Venezuelan presidential election are Edmundo González Urrutia (MUD), Benjamín Rausseo (CONDE), Antonio Ecarri (Alianza del Lápiz), Daniel Ceballos (AREPA), Luis Eduardo Martínez (AD), José Brito (PV), Claudio Fermín (SPV) , Javier Bertucci (EL CHANGE) and Enrique Márquez (CG).
For the first time in more than a decade we could well see a change of government in Venezuela, with Edmundo González Urrutia currently far ahead of Maduro in the polls. However it is feared that Maduro may look to cling to power and some form of settlement agreement might be required to ease him from office.
Can you vote from the US in the Venezuelan presidential election?
According to data from the Electoral Registry, a total of 21 million Venezuelans are registered to vote this Sunday. That includes more than 69,000 voters who are currently living abroad. To cast your vote outside of Venezuela, you must go to a Venezuelan Embassy or Consulate with proof of residence in the country in question and a copy of your current Venezuelan identity card.
However this requirement poses a major problem for Venezuelans living in the United States. Venezuela and the US do not currently have diplomatic relations, meaning that there are no Venezuelan consulates in the country. As such, there are no locations in the United States where Venezuelans can exercise their right to vote.
In the end, the disenfranchisement of overseas Venezuelans may not make much material difference to the race. Edmundo González Urrutia, a former diplomat, is currently far ahead of Maduro in the polls. He is backed by another opposition figure, Maria Corina Machado, who had built up considerable support before being disqualified in shady circumstances in the build-up to the election.