Venezuela: Elections for 15,000 justices of the peace get underway

teleSUR English

In Venezuela, everything is ready for citizens to elect 15 thousand peace judges for the first time on December 15th. Our correspondent with the details.

Transcript

00:00To go more in details about this important election being held in Venezuela, let's welcome

00:05once again our correspondent Gladys Quezada for more details.

00:08Hello Gladys, what can you tell us?

00:11Hello Luis, yes precisely, we continue here in Nahuatl, one of the many coastal towns

00:22here in La Guaira, the state of La Guaira that welcomes the people that goes to Caracas,

00:28the capital of Venezuela.

00:30As you can see, the lines of voters, of people from the town and the community is growing

00:35up, is getting larger because people are coming in here and expecting the right to vote.

00:42We have two lines because this line you have in screen is the line for the elderly and

00:47the line for older people and the other one is that the people are coming and they are

00:53youngsters, they are older, that come with their children and all the family.

00:58Now we are going to get into the voting center to explain to you a little bit more regarding

01:05these elections.

01:06Let me tell you that this voting center in Nahuatl serves 24,000 people and also is electing

01:15out of 30 candidates, they are choosing 6 people, they are choosing 6 candidates, they

01:22have 6 justices and 6 substitutes for those who are elected.

01:29And as you can see, this is a school and now is functioning as a voting center because

01:35this is a tradition here in Venezuela and you can see the lineup of people that are

01:39waiting and expecting to cast their vote in this election of the peace justices.

01:46I have to say, many people are asking themselves about this new process, this is other stage

01:52of the election of the communal structure and that's to say that these people is going

01:59to be the ones that mediate in internal conflicts and it's important for them to be the ones

02:05from the community, from the social gatherings, they know the people, they know the circumstances

02:11and the know-how of the communities.

02:14And as you can see, this is the way they have organized the system to vote.

02:19So here we have the president of the voting table and she verifies the identity of every

02:25one of the voters and the community members that come in here.

02:29So they take one of these ballots so they can cast their vote for a candidate, one of

02:35the 3 candidates that have an identity with a letter A, B or C and afterwards they check

02:43their identity, they have to present and hand out their identity card with a number

02:50so they are checked and they afterwards come to that part because the vote is secret and

02:56afterwards they put the ballot in that box.

03:00So as you can see, this is certified with the National Electoral Council verifying this

03:06information so this is a legal, constitutional, institutional process besides the fact that

03:12it's a community act, a community process also.

03:16As you can see, people have to go there, cast their vote, they are complying with the process

03:21with the protocol of elections as normal, as usual.

03:25This is a written election, this is not using digital machines as the presidential elections

03:31or other ones here in Venezuela and afterwards they have to, you know, to check and give

03:40again their information so they have to present again their identity cards and their fingerprint

03:46as a proof and evidence that they were the person they say they are, that they are casting

03:52their ballot, that they have the voting age which is 15 years old in the community processes.

03:58So all of this, as you can see, is structured, is organized and is a full legal process that

04:06is enforced right now here in Venezuela and you had the opportunity with our audience

04:12to witness how this process is carried out and as you can see, people with maybe disabilities

04:18or other limitations and the elderly, they have, you know, they are a priority, they

04:24are accompanied by their neighbors that come in here because everyone has the right to

04:28vote and everyone comes in here and they find assistance if they need so.

04:34So far people are still coming in, as I was saying to you, the authorities of this voting

04:38center told me that they are serving 24,000 people of all the town of Nayhuatl and I have

04:46to say people is just coming and coming and the lines are getting larger.

04:51So far this is the process, we are expecting more information from the national authorities

04:55regarding this process that also has been conducted by the vice president of the National

05:01Assembly, Pedro Infante Aparicio and also supported by the president, Nicolás Maduro

05:05Moros.

05:06They have been giving the people advices, they are having these instructive activities

05:11because it's not only for them to come and vote, it's to understand the priorities, it's

05:17to understand the community mechanisms and how they can learn to have the popular will,

05:23the popular power and to enhance it through this kind of activities and mechanisms and

05:28then get that into ways of reality and to means and to be amongst the community and

05:36to be part of their leadership.

05:39So far that's the information, Luis, that's what we have for you.

05:44But we will stay here and afterwards we will tour other voting centers to collect more

05:49information and more data for you and our audience.

05:52Now I'm going to give you back the signal, back to you.

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