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Dead Venezuelans must register in person to be eligible for Referendum vote
That's gotta be the headline of the month...
National Electoral College (CNE) authorities say thousands of deceased Venezuelans must register in person with the Permanent Electoral Register (REP) otherwise they will not be eligible to vote in upcoming ballots, including a national referendum to decide if President Hugo Chavez Frias should remain in office until the end of his current mandate in 2006.
| Boy, they're a lot more strict than Chicago or St. Louis... |
CNE director Romulo Lares says that those individuals whose names do not appear in the electoral register should make haste to do so before the register is closed for a complete overhaul as a preliminary step ahead of an eventual referendum vote requested after August 19. Years of maladministration at the register has seen thousands of dead Venezuelans' names still not removed from the register and in the present undercurrent of ballot box manipulations, earlier elections have seen many "dead" votes cast ... some of the deceased voters have been more than 20 years departed but they still have valid national identity numbers taken with them to the grave.
| "Vote early and often, even if you're dead!" |
Lares says the situation is "extremely delicate" ... "to make sure the register is correct, we are asking each voter to register in person so that we can check his/her identity and to make sure they are eligible to participate under regulations specified in the national constitution."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-08-08 |
