US concerned results announced by Venezuela election authority don’t reflect votes: Blinken

The United States has serious concerns that results announced by Venezuela’s electoral authority declaring President Nicolas Maduro had won a third term, do not reflect the votes of the people, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday.

Just minutes after the authority said Maduro had won the presidential election, Blinken interrupted remarks at a meeting of Indo-Pacific nations to address the development.

“We’ve seen the announcement just a short while ago by the Venezuelan electoral commission. We have serious concerns that the result announced does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people,” Blinken said.

Blinken on Monday said the international community was watching closely and would respond accordingly.

“It’s critical that every vote is counted fairly and transparently, that election officials immediately share information with the opposition and electoral observers without delay and that the electoral authorities publish detailed tabulation of votes,” he said.

Venezuela’s national electoral council (CNE) said Maduro had won the poll with 51% of the vote, despite multiple exit polls pointing to an opposition win.

The CNE is meant to be an independent body, but the opposition alleges it acts as an arm of the government.

A poll from Edison Research, known for its polling of US elections, had predicted in an exit poll that Gonzalez would win 65% of the vote, while Maduro would win 31%.

Washington, which rejected the 2018 reelection of Socialist leader Maduro, eased sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry last October in response to a deal between Maduro and opposition parties.

Washington later reinstated the sanctions over actions that it said threatened an inclusive democratic vote, and US officials have said they will calibrate their sanctions policy going forward on how the elections were run.