Decision of the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela on Electoral Litigation

DECISION

For the foregoing reasons, the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, administering justice in the name of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela by authority of the Law, declares:

First: THE JURISDICTION OF THIS ELECTORAL CHAMBER IS RATIFIED, since a

contentious electoral appeal was filed, so that this body would initiate a judicial process of investigation and verification, to certify in an unrestricted and unequivocal manner, the results of the electoral process held on July 28, 2024; from which the direct connection of this action with such electoral process is inferred, in accordance with Article 297 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and paragraph 1 of Article 27 of the Organic Law of the Supreme Court of Justice, which assigns to this body judicial control over the actions or omissions of agents that intervened in the referred electoral event; and in view of the request for judicial protection of the right to vote of all the electors of the Republic, in order to safeguard the popular sovereignty, since it was requested to verify the will of the voters in the most important national elections, such as those of the President  of the Republic, in which a massive cybernetic attack against the Electoral System was evidenced, which resulted in an clear transgression against the Electoral Branch.

Likewise, it is appropriate to indicate that such jurisdiction is exercised by this judicial body in view of the reasons that inspired the creation of both the Electoral Branch and this legal body, namely to cement and strengthen the electoral culture, as novel means made available to the citizens, instruments for the State to guarantee its protagonist role, as has been established in reiterated jurisprudence of this Electoral Chamber.

Beyond our borders, examining the comparative law, in similar situations, in electoral processes for the election of the President of the Republic or Heads of States, other nations in the sovereign exercise of their jurisdiction, have issued decisions on the controversies arising in electoral events. Such has been the case of the United Mexican States, whose Superior Chamber of the Electoral Tribunal of the Judiciary of the Federation, issued a decision regarding the results of the election of August 14, 2024, decision 400/2024, declaring the validity of the presidential elections and guaranteeing by judicial means the social peace.

The same occurred in the last presidential election process held in the Federative Republic of Brazil on October 30, 2022, during which allegations of alleged electoral fraud were made which merited the intervention of the Superior Electoral Court of said country, as the highest authority in electoral litigation maYers, which took decisions to restaure social tranquility, defeating the intentions of provoking a crisis in the country.

Likewise, in the 2000 elections for the President of the United States of America, where the then candidates Al Gore and George W. Bush faced each other, the result was controversial, a situation that was resolved by the Supreme Court of Justice.

Such precedents make it clear that in the presence of controversies arising in presidential elections, the Courts of Justice with jurisdiction in electoral matters, constitute, in the world, the last resort for their resolution, as guarantors of the Rule of Law and Constitutional Democracy.

Second: That the National Electoral Council as Governing Body and highest authority of the Electoral Branch in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, on August 5, 2024, appeared with the Principal Rectors led by Dr. Elvis Eduardo

Hidrobo Amoroso, President of the National Electoral Council, fully complying with the requirement formulated by this Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, and timely and legally consigned all the electoral material related to the presidential election held on July 28, 2024, only Rector Juan Carlos Delpino did not appear before the Highest Court of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and did not justify his absence.

Having been summoned for August 7, 8 and 9, 2024, the thirty-eight (38) postulant political parties attended in due time, and of those thirty-eight (38), thirty-three (33) of them consigned the required electoral material. These parties were: Primero Venezuela, Movimiento Primero Justicia, Unidad Visión Venezuela, Unidad Venezuela Unidad, Acción Democrática (AD), COPEI, Movimiento Republicano, Bandera Roja, Derecha Democrática Popular, Unión Nacional Electoral, Voluntad Popular, Asamblea de Renovación y Esperanza para el País (AREPA), Esperanza por el Cambio, Soluciones Para Venezuela, Min Unidad, Cambiemos Movimiento Ciudadano, Avanza

Likewise, of the ten (10) former candidates mentioned, nine (9) of them aYended, namely: citizens Antonio Ecarri, Enrique Márquez, José Brito, Luis

Eduardo Marinez, Daniel Ceballos, Javier Bertucci, Claudio Fermín, Benjamín Rausseo and President Nicolás Maduro Moros.

It is expressly stated that the political parties: La Alianza del Lápiz and Partidos Centrados en la Gente, did not submit the required electoral material, nor did former candidates Antonio Ecarri and Enrique Márquez.

Consequently, it is DECIDED that all the electoral material consigned by the National Electoral Council and the political parties and the former candidates, remains hereby RESERVED by this Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice.

Third: That former candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, DID NOT ATTEND any of the phases of this process to which he was summoned, and therefore DID NOT COMPLY with the order of the Highest Body of the Contentious Electoral Jurisdiction of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, nor with the consignment of the tally sheets, the list of witnesses, nor any electoral material whatsoever; Consequently, it DISREGARDED the mandate, in clear disrespect to the judicial authority, demonstrating its unwillingness to abide by the constitutional order, a conduct that entails the sanctions provided for in the current legal system.

That citizens Manuel Rosales, representative of Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT), José Luis Cartaya, representative of the Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD) and José Simón Calzadilla, representative of Movimiento por Venezuela (MPV), all members of the Alianza Plataforma Unitaria Democrática and postulants of former candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, did not submit any electoral material, arguing that they do not have any documentation related to this electoral process, in such sense, they stated that they do not have the tally records of the witnesses of the polling booths, nor the lists of witnesses, and that they did not participate in the process of transfer and safekeeping of the copies of the tally records that correspond to their political parties, as evidenced in the audio, video and minutes of their appearances.

Fourth: In view of the final report submitted on August 20, 2024, by national and international experts, which constitutes full evidence in this contentious electoral process, referred to the thorough and detailed in-depth ASSESSMENT of all the material consigned by the National Electoral Council and the political parties, in physical and/or digital form, related to the presidential election process held on July 28, 2024, conducted in accordance with the highest national and international technical standards, in which once the collected

material was examined, the report textually determined that: “…Based on the results obtained in the expertise process we can conclude that the bulletins issued by the National Electoral Council regarding the Presidential Election 2024, are supported by the tally records issued by each of the voting machines deployed in the electoral process and likewise these records fully match the records of the databases of the National Totalization Centers.”

Fifth: This Electoral Chamber declares the present contentious electoral appeal SUSTAINED, based on the expert opinion made and verified in an IRRESTRICT AND INEQUIVOCABLE MANNER, and based on the report prepared by the highly qualified and suitable national and international electoral experts, who guaranteed the highest level of legal technical excellence; IT CERTIFIES IN AN UNOBJECTIONABLE MANNER the expertly assessed electoral material and CATEGORICALLY VALIDATES the results of the presidential election of July 28, 2024, issued by the National Electoral Council, wherein the citizen NICOLÁS MADURO MOROS was elected as President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for the Constitutional period 2025-2031. IT IS HEREBY DECIDED.

Sixth: The National Electoral Council is hereby ORDERED to publish the final results of the electoral process held on July 28, 2024, for the election of the

President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the Electoral Gazette of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, pursuant to the provisions of Article 155 of the Organic Law of Electoral Processes, which reads as follows:

“Article 155. The National Electoral Council shall order the publication of the results of the electoral processes in the Electoral Gazette of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, within thirty days following the proclamation of the elected candidates.”

Seventh: An URGENT certified copy of the present decision is hereby FORWARDED to the ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE REPUBLIC, citizen Tarek William Saab, so that it may be incorporated to the criminal investigations on the irregular events being carried out by that Institution, which we quote textually according to the Attorney General, are to “… determine the responsibilities of the case, in view of the anxiety caused to the population due to the alleged commission of the crimes of usurpation of functions, forgery of public documents, instigation to disobey the laws, computer crimes, association to commit crimes and conspiracy…”, by virtue of the allegedly false or forged documents uploaded on the web page www.resultspresidencialesvenezuela2024.com;

as well as on the massive cybernetic attack denounced against the Venezuelan electoral system, which could represent alleged unlawful conducts, common, electoral and constitutional crimes, in violation of the legal system.

To be published, registered and communicated. Comply with the order.