MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Observers insist: no proof of fraud in Venezuelan referendum.

Independent observers confirmed that the random auditing of results from the recall referendum (Sunday August 15) against Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez show there are no indications of fraud as claimed by the opposition.

The verification process done during this week in the presence of international observers from the Organization of American States, OAS, and the Carter Center ratified the coincidence with the results from the Venezuelan Electoral Council that declared Mr. Chavez the winner with 59% of the ten million votes polled.

The Carter Center which supported the referendum's results originally proposed the auditing to the Electoral Council following the opposition's insistence in the alleged "manipulation of the electronic voting machines programs". "We've done a full job to assess the process and that is why we're saying we are confident of the results", said Jennifer McCoy from the Carter Center.

The verification process began last Wednesday with the random selection of 150 voting districts, representing 1,2% of the total polling stations. The referendum asked if Mr. Chavez should leave office before his mandate is over in January 2007.

"We've found no substantial differences in the discrepancy margin we checked on the night of the election", said CNE member Jorge Rodríguez who added that the "automatic voting system has proven its trustworthiness, transparency and speed".

However OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria indicated that "we're not saying categorically that there was no fraud, what we're saying is that we haven't found proof of it. We're satisfied with the checking we've done and the results with the CNE are compatible".

Mr. Gaviria proposed the opposition keep working to bring to an end all its doubts about the Sunday August 15 voting and so contribute to solve the conflict that has split Venezuela in two halves for over two years. "If the opposition believes the results are fraudulent there's no way to end the polarization of this country", warned Mr. Gaviria.

Last Wednesday representatives from the opposition under the umbrella organization "Democratic Coordinator" presented what they consider as evidence of voting machines program rigging which supposedly limited the "Yes" vote to oust president Chavez.

They also asked more time to collect further evidence and postpone the auditing process so as to make the "auditing extensive to the whole voting process and the software".

"The opposition ratifies that we are absolutely convinced that we are facing a continuous and electronic fraud which has made a joke out of the whole process", said Asdrubal Aguiar from the Democratic Coordinator.