Venezuela’s chief justice rejects appeal for vote recount
Venezuela's Supreme Court has ruled out a recount of the country's disputed presidential vote, saying there is no legal basis for the opposition's push for a vote-by-vote recount. - The head of the country's Supreme Court, Chief Justice Luisa Morales, said on Wednesday that manual vote counting was not possible, citing the country's 1999 constitution that "eliminated the manual electoral process." "In Venezuela the electoral system is completely automated. Therefore, a manual count does not exist. Anyone who thought that could really happen has been deceived," she said. "The majority of those who are asking for a manual count know it and are clear about it. Elections are not audited ballot by ballot but through the system," she added.
Stephen Lendman: Destabilizing Venezuela - On April 14, Venezuelans elected Nicolas Maduro president. He won fair and square. It's official. A nationally televised Monday ceremony announced it. Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles cried foul. He called Maduro "illegitimate." He refuses to recognize election results. He demands a recount. He wants "every vote" counted. National Electoral Council (CNE) president Tibisay Lucena responded. A manual recount of all votes isn't needed to confirm accuracy, she said. Proper auditing checks were implemented. It's routine. They're done before, during and post-elections. Over half the Sunday vote total was checked. She called doing so "a statistical proportion that in any part of the world (would be) considered excessive." Fourteen audits were conducted. They assure a free, open and fair process.