Election

Venezuela 2024 Presidential Election

July 28, 2024

Venezuela's 28 July 2024 presidential election was announced for Nicolás Maduro (51.2%) by the National Electoral Council — which then never published the polling-station results that Venezuelan law requires. The opposition published scanned tally sheets (actas) collected by its witnesses from 81.7% of polling stations, showing Edmundo González winning with 67% to Maduro's 30%. The Carter Center verified the actas as genuine, called the announced result statistically impossible, and concluded the election cannot be considered democratic. The government-aligned Supreme Court validated the announced result, González was forced into exile in Spain, and the UN Fact-Finding Mission found the results process below basic transparency and integrity standards.

Official results

Certified by The figures below are what the CNE announced in its first bulletin — it never published disaggregated, per-polling-station results to substantiate them, and cancelled the audits scheduled under Venezuelan law. The opposition-published actas covering 81.7% of polling stations show the reverse outcome: González 67.1% (7,156,462 votes) to Maduro 30.4% (3,241,461).

The CNE issued a second bulletin on 2 August (Maduro 51.95%, González 43.18%) without ever publishing station-level data. No audited final turnout figure was published; reported turnout was about 59%.

Nicolás Maduro (PSUV / Great Patriotic Pole)51.2%5,150,092
Declared winner; opposition actas show him at 30.4%
Edmundo González Urrutia (Unitary Platform)44.2%4,445,978
Opposition actas covering 81.7% of polling stations show him at 67.1% — the actual winner by that record
Other candidates (combined)4.6%462,704

Sources:1 2

The Integrity Ledger

What the evidence establishes, and what it does not — side by side, each finding sourced and tiered.

What is established

Process violationsConfirmed
The CNE failed to publish disaggregated results as Venezuelan law requires and cancelled scheduled audits; the government-aligned Supreme Court (TSJ) then validated the announced result without a transparent review of polling-station data. The UN Fact-Finding Mission found the results-management process fell below basic transparency and integrity standards.
Sources:1 2
Result falsificationCorroborated
The Carter Center verified that the opposition-published actas — covering 81.7% of polling stations and showing González with 67% to Maduro's 30% — carry the security features of genuine CNE tally sheets, and that the CNE's announced result is statistically implausible against them. It described the announced outcome as apparent falsification and the election as one that cannot be considered democratic.
Sources:1 2

What is not established

Result falsificationContested
The government claimed the opposition's actas were forged and blamed a cyberattack for its failure to publish results. It produced no evidence for either claim, and the TSJ's validation cited no polling-station data; the Carter Center found the actas genuine and the announced figures statistically impossible.
Sources:1 2

Process assessment

Voting day was largely peaceful, but the results process failed at aggregation: no disaggregated publication, cancelled audits, a judicial validation without evidence, and repression that drove the opposition's candidate into exile. Venezuela 2024 is the rare case where the falsification of a national result is documented almost in real time — by the state's own tally sheets, collected by citizens.

Sources:1 2