Venezuela 2024 election results
Executive summary
The official National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela declared Nicolás Maduro the winner of the July 28, 2024 presidential election, reporting roughly 51% of valid votes in his favor [1][2], but that declaration was issued without precinct-level tallies and was immediately contested by the opposition and many foreign governments who cite evidence pointing to an opposition victory by Edmundo González Urrutia [3][4].
1. What the CNE announced and how it presented the result
On 29 July the CNE issued a summary announcement naming Nicolás Maduro the victor, a rapid statement that, critics say, came with no published disaggregated precinct results or vote tally sheets to corroborate the claim; official web postings and secondary aggregators like Statista mirror the CNE’s numbers that gave Maduro about 51% of the vote [5][1][2], but the absence of detailed, precinct-level data became a central point of dispute [3].
2. Opposition claims and international allies who dispute the CNE
Venezuelan opposition leaders immediately rejected the CNE announcement, with Edmundo González’s camp insisting he had won by a wide margin and party tallies put forward as evidence of a landslide for the opposition [5][6]; the United States and several Western actors publicly assessed that González won the most votes, with the U.S. State Department and related diplomatic statements pointing to “overwhelming evidence” of an opposition victory and calling the CNE process non‑credible [4][7].
3. Observers, irregularities, and the credibility debate
Election observers and watchdogs reported a range of problems: international missions were limited or disinvited in some cases, and post‑vote reporting flagged irregularities including refusal to release paper tallies at some centers, blocked access for legal monitors, and inconsistent reporting between polling‑place samples and the CNE summary—factors the Carter Center and other observers cited when saying the announced outcome could not be verified [5][3][8].
4. Polling before the vote and questions about poll proliferation
High‑quality pre‑election polls within Venezuela had generally shown an advantage for the opposition’s Edmundo González, a trend picked up by regional analysts and organizations tracking the race [8][9]; during the run‑up to the vote, commentators also raised concerns about a wave of pro‑Maduro polls from previously unknown firms that diverged sharply from traditional pollsters, feeding accusations that some polling was being used as government propaganda [8].
5. International split and geopolitical fallout
Reactions to the announcement split along familiar geopolitical lines: Western governments and some regional partners questioned or rejected the CNE result and recognized González as the legitimate winner, while countries allied with Caracas—such as Russia, China, and Cuba—continued to recognize Maduro [7]. Those diplomatic fractures presaged further crises: later events, including international actions and accusations tied to narcotrafficking and resource theft, are reported to have flowed from the disputed outcome and the broader political standoff [8][10][11].
6. Why the results remain contested and what is verifiable
What is verifiable from the available reporting is this: the CNE declared Maduro the official victor and published summary numbers that have been widely cited [1][2]; credible observers and foreign governments including the U.S. have publicly concluded that the announcement does not reflect the will of the Venezuelan electorate and assert that González received the most votes [4][5]; but because the electoral authority did not release precinct‑level tallies or complete tally sheets as observers requested, independent verification of either claim has been frustrated and the sequence of events remains deeply contested [3].