The number of tables for 9-D elections decreased by 14% in Zulia

The number of tables for the next council elections decreased by 14% in Zulia. This December 9, there will be 529 tables less than in the last presidential election of May 20.

Luis Caldera, director of the organization of the PSUV, announced yesterday that, for this electoral process, the National Electoral Council had allowed the creation of 3,273 paintings and that on May 20, "we had 3,802".

The number of polling stations was 1,346, but that number increased to 20 million. The electorate assigned 10 new voting centers, in addition to the 1,336 opened on this occasion.

Caldera said that these new centers were located at: "One in the municipality of Santa Rita, one in Colón, seven in Maracaibo and one in Sucre, and they need intervention in their infrastructure as they are schools and some have been victims of wire theft, the installation of transformers, basic services, for which we are preparing the list with the mayors, the governor's office and Corpoelec so that the CNE can rely on optimal facilities for this electoral process that is of great importance to municipalities, because they will choose to members of municipal councils, "said Caldera during a press conference.

From the CNE, sources told the newspaper that some adjustments had been made. They confirmed that some centers are in poor condition due to structural problems or have been the victims of cable theft.

The number of voters for the region was 2,554,222.

Carlos Medina, a member of the Venezuelan Electoral Observatory (OVC), said that nearly 29,000 tables would be used in the country, compared to 34,000 in May in the presidency. However, the reduction is not 40%. Not even for parliamentarians, where 40,000 people were used, "said Medina.

Regarding the number of voting centers, he maintained that they remain relatively the same.

On the subject, Roberto Abdul, chairman of the NGO Sumate, said the measure was linked to expectations of participation.

"For these elections, we are really expecting about 30% to 40%, because, according to opinion studies, people are not even aware of the elections." The CNE operates according to the expected turnout and it's not the same as you expected 30%, and it is estimated that about 5,500,000 voters participate ".

By reducing the number of tables, the CNE saves, according to Abdul, stationery, programming machines, costs, "you reduce the capacity and efforts to meet this expectation of participation."

As the number of tables decreases, the number of members to be trained also decreases.

For his part, Humberto Castillo, former director of the CNE, felt that the CNE did not act thinking that there would not be enough participation, because it is not its objective, because "it must organize the elections according to the role and electoral constituencies, It would be necessary to see if it has more to do with the number of registered candidates, which implies an easier and faster logistics for the purposes of the vote with I do not think that it is because the CNE considers a low participation, I am sure that if the agency estimates a certain number of tables, it is because it is certain that with this figure the electoral process can be developed without problems ".

Since the party Copei, its president in Zulia, Joaquín Chaparro, said that he was not informed of the change in the number of centers and tables in the region. "The National Party Secretariat is not aware of a change in Zulia or in the country." Information provided by a political party is an anomaly, the only entity allowed to report on this is the CNE In Maracaibo, there are about 1,449 tables, and we work with that number. "

Chaparro added that, according to polls, the abstention is around 86%.
For these elections, 4,900 positions are elected to the municipal councils of the country, including 685 mayors and 685 substitutes. Nominally, 1,703 constituents and 1,703 alternates are selected. For the 69 major and 69 indigenous substitutes.