February 26, 2007
CNE satisfied with EU report on presidential vote

(El Universal) - "Tibisay Lucena, president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), showed satisfaction at the report the European Union Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) disclosed on the Venezuelan last December 3rd presidential election.

The CNE head told official TV channel VTV that the document was accurate, because it 'rated the vote as extraordinary, with a massive turnout, and claimed the results were endorsed by everybody and that the automated system worked perfectly, while audits helped build confidence in all of the political players,' official news agency ABN reported.

Lucena added that the EU EOM report did point to some issues, 'such as the problems the elderly faced when using balloting machines, but such cases do not even amount to 0.01 percent.'

Further, she stressed that some local media highlighted only the problems the EU mission found, ABN added.

Lucena underscored that the reports disclosed by the EU EOM and other foreign electoral observers such as The Carter Center and the Organization of American States (OAS) endorsed 'our management of the election has been acknowledged by them (foreign observers) and the people,' Lucena said".