Sunday, August 15, 2004

Closing time, soon we will know officially, some signs... Chavez' campaign command center is empty. Foreign Reporters and international observers are all in the Coordinadora's Headquarters. Members of Chavez' campaign command have visited the private TV stations they have not visited in almost six years. Only two people from the Government have claimed victory, both were part of the failed Comando Ayacucho and excluded from Comando Maisanta. The Coordinadora has said they will give out projections after the CNE amkes an announcement. You be the judge of what is happening... 11:58:57 PM    comment []

Anatomy of a line It all began back here, almost a mile back, some decided to get some reading done, because the line was so big Very peaceful smiles all over, many brought chairs, hats, reading material, this is the final lap, around the bend and you are at the door with only 200 voters ahead, these friends I made at the line were happy with their blue fingers, while this guy was making sure he pushed his correct choice in the machine. 11:19:42 PM    comment []

Done Deal IT'S A DONE DEAL, MORE THAN 7 MILLION VOTERS WITH SI 60% NO 40% 8:27:28 PM    comment []

Carter and Gaviria are telling voters to stay in line that the polls will be opened as long as people are in line. But the Chavistas are blocking people from voting. In one state three voting centers have been closed for three hours by the Chavistas. The CD met with Carter and Gaviria and they made an announcement that polls could be open all night if necessary. Thus, it is tension time, the goal is close, call your friends in line and tell them to hang in there!!!   6:40:18 PM    comment []

With the slow lines inching along faster now that the fingerprint machines are only used after people have voted, the concern become whether the opposition will reach the required 3.75 million votes. At this time all of the problems have been such that we are not close. In one hour night will set in and with cops in their headquarters many may decide to leave the long lines and go home for safety. Where my vote was cast, mine was like number 1200 in a school with 3800 voters it will get to 1900 but it is wor se in other sections. The opposition always said the fingerprint nachines should not be used. The Government insisted. One hundred million dollars were spent in making life difficult for voters without reason. That is not the role of an Electoral Board. Politically, it woukd be very unstable to beat Chavez handily and not reach 3.7 million.   6:09:49 PM    comment []

The last trick? Danger of one last Chavista trick, as the lines continue slow, there is now the danger that we will not even get even half the voters to vote and the Si will not get the 3.7 million votes required. The CD is asking the international observers to apply all pressures on the Government. 4:42:17 PM    comment []

Happy Voter here! It took me ten hours and twenty minutes to vote but I am happy camper. Now I have to go work until polls close. The numbers I am hearing from the exit polls are outstanding, I will get more before I post what I am hearing. But I understand in only three states is the Si losing. The President of the CNE came on TV to reveal a sinister plot by the opposition to announce at 8 PM that the Si had won, blaming the opposition. The tape turned out to be one made by a comedian a couple of weeks ago and broadcast repeatedly on TV during the last week. The comedian just appeared on TV laughing at the whole thing. Daniel reports the voting machines running out of battery in San Felipe and voting stopped for one hour and a half until recharged. 4:35:48 PM    comment []

As my eigth hour in line goes by, the fingerprint machines are no longer obligatory and are only used after the person has voted. Caracas is still sunny, not so hot and people remain in a good mood. Descifrado claims Chavez' signature was rejected which would be hilarious if true. Many rumors in line from SI is doing so well that the Government is trying to slow it down so that we dont get past 3.7 million to conflicting claims about abstention. Have hears some local exit polls from reliable sources that f avore the SI vote with 30 percent of the electorate. 2:18:58 PM    comment []

Just talked to Daniel from Daniel news on the phone. In San Felipe lines are also very big and very slow in a polling station where there has never been lines historically. He will not update for a while, until he votes!!   11:30:18 AM    comment []

Well, have now been here four hours. The school where Ivote has two stations, with one fingerprint machine each and three voting machines each. Have seen people arrive in ambulances, wheelchairs and walkers, pretty impressive. The older people are the more belligerent with how slow the process is. At first sight not too many young people, but the special line for older people has about one hundred people in it.   10:13:49 AM    comment []

Two hours in line and not even close, at least 450 people ahead of me. There are lots of problems, from people who are in the lists outside but not inside to people that vote one way and the printed ballot says the opposite. These people are told to not drop the ballot in the box, but the paper ballots will only be used in the audit so there are going to be many inconsistencies. Reports in the line and that 90 percent of poll centers have opened.   8:26:38 AM    comment []

It took me 55 minutes to check on which machine vote, now am in the line to vote, counted 650 people in line. Older people are taken to the front of th line. So far, the process looks too slow, previous elections at this time it would be moving faster.   7:10:08 AM    comment []

I am in line to check in line to check in which machine vote at my polling center. There are maybe 50 people in this line and about 400 who already have checked. People have been here since 3 AM and have not voted yet. Seems slow. Miguel Octavio 6:24:24 AM    comment []

3 AM wake up call by the Chavistas At 3 AM the Chavistas starting shooting rockets up in the air, blasting music and playing revelries. The music continues an hour later. I wonder what Jorge Rodriguez thinks of campaign music at this point? I am not sure what the purpose is. They certainly succeeded in waking me up to so that instead of going to vote at 7 AM, I will go at 6 AM. Not sure you mobilize people by waking them up, least of all by waking them up too early. Do long lines early promote or reduce abstention? I am not sure. The barrio next to my house houses about 3,000 people, there are maybe 40 moving around,not that many lights on. Regular firecrackers are quite obnoxious given the time of day. 4:08:56 AM    comment []