VENEZUELA ELECTIONS 2024
Venezuela 2024 Presidential Elections: Will foreigners be able to vote?
Millions of Venezuelans will go out to vote this Sunday, July 28, but what about those who live abroad? Will they be able to participate in the elections?
On Sunday, July 28th, millions of Venezuelans will head to the polls to exercise their right to vote in the general elections. During this time, voters will have to choose from 10 candidates for the next presidential term (2025-2031). Nicolás Maduro, who has been in power for eleven years, is seeking re-election against nine different candidates: Edmundo González Urrutia (MUD), Benjamín Rausseo (CONDE), Antonio Ecarri (Pencil Alliance), Daniel Ceballos (AREPA), Luis Eduardo Martínez (AD), José Brito (PV), Claudio Fermín (SPV), Javier Bertucci (EL CAMBIO) and Enrique Márquez (CG).
The opposition stands a chance
Chavismo, which has been the leading political ideology of Venezuela for over twenty years, is on the ballot this year, with a serious challenge coming from Edmundo González Urrutia of the Democratic Unitary Platform (or the Plataforma Unitaria Democrática in Spanish). Urrutia is a member of the party formed by political leader Juan Guido, who received the support of the Trump administration in asserting himself as the legitimate leader of the country. Though Guido eventually fled Venezuela, he left behind a political infrastructure that the media presents as a fighting force against Maduro’s control over the country.
The last time the opposition came close to winning was in the 2013 elections when Venezuelans were searching for a replacement for Hugo Chavez. At that time, Maduro, Chavez’s vice president, was one of the candidates. He won the election with 50.61% of the votes, defeating the opposition, which received 49.12% of the votes.
Venezuelan Presidential Elections 2024: Will foreigners be able to vote?
According to the Electoral Registry, 21 million Venezuelans are registered to vote, including more than 69 thousand voters abroad. Citizens who are outside of Venezuela, that is, who reside in another country, can cast their vote by presenting proof of residence in the country in question and a copy of their current Venezuelan identity card at a Venezuelan Embassy or Consulate in the country in question.
It is worth mentioning that residents of countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Venezuela will not be able to exercise their right to vote. This is the case in the United States, where no Venezuelan will be able to vote because the country’s consulates in the United States are closed.