Election day 2015 post

0:46

Tibisay spoketh. It ain't pretty for the regime, a 2 to 1 victory for the opposition. Still 17 seats in play that will decide whether a 2/3 supernumerary majority is reached (and the end of the regime as we knew it). Maduro bitched but accepted with lame references.

Meanwhile suddenly San Felipe is awakening.

And this concludes our election day post. Next? Governor elections December 2016 or... earlier presidential.

11:58

In two minutes we are "the day after"



11:47

Tic-tac, Tic-tac.....

10:54

An insisting rumor is that the opposition would have got 2/3 of the Assembly! 113 seats!

If this is indeed true it not only goes beyond our widest hopes and expectations but it will create a speedy downfall of the regime. Buuut.... leaving all the mess for us to fix with all the political consequences.....



10:23

JUST BREAKING!

BREAKING NEWS! Blog Venezuela News and Views calls the election! pic.twitter.com/TUczynRDYu

— daniel duquenal (@danielduquenal) December 7, 2015

9:56

It is getting more difficult for the regime to hide the opposition victory. As usual, when compared to, say, recent Argentina elections, the Venezuelan electoral system is pathetic.

On the good side, if rumors I get are confirmed my predictions may turn out to have been good. Note: I would not mind at all being wrong and that the MUD gets 2/3. :-)


9:35

Nothing to report. The CNE does its usual waiting game while they try to cook up the results so as to make not looks so bad for the regime.

At least some figures of the opposotion have gone to twitter to claim victory. We put pressure whichever way we can.

San Felipe is quiet and I am at peace. Few fireworks and coming from different places than usual. Maybe a good omen.


7:19

Looks that there will be a solid victory for the opposition. Maybe I should change my predictions to case 3? Or make up in a hurry a case 4? With 25% spread and a 2/3 majority?


7:11

And there is this.

A fetish/cursed bottle since 2009 in my fridge. Is this the night? pic.twitter.com/oEviAGEAAB

— daniel duquenal (@danielduquenal) December 6, 2015

7:10

The illegal voting hours extension is creating quite a scandal. Best admission that the regime lost the election.


7:02

Apparently in some Zulia districts the PSUV forces people to vote "assisted", being nice enough to push the buttons for the voter least this one pulls a muscle or something.

6:57

Got back in service an old modem and got some Internet. My normal provider, Intercable, not only killed my Internet but also killed my phone! And TV while at it. And no, I did not forget to pay for the service.

Right now the usual ruckus on illegally extending voting hours even though most centers are done with voters. The usual bring in the vote despair and those voting that should not be doing so.


6:06 pm

Made it safely to San Felipe. Roads near empty. Saw one of the "mobile CNE" voting center for poor or distant or hard to reach areas. Big line, red shirts, a PSUV red tent right in front. No pressure...

Voted fast. But next voting station had a huge line. Voting machines down, no permission to start voting manually yet.

No Internet at home. Down many areas of the country. Need to update through my cel phone. A big pain you know where

9:47

To try to go around the news blockade and censorship the MUD did a few things, such as a Youtube channel devoted to election day incidents and results later on. So do particulars with new portals in the provinces. This one from Margarita.

9:41

About to leave Caracas. So far nothing too far fetched as far as I can tell.

But there are illegal things like this:

En La Alta Florida, Caracas pic.twitter.com/rXMsE6GE5E

— Iruña Urruticoechea (@urru_urru) December 6, 2015

Observe the intimidation tactic of the chavista in that illegal PSUV "information tent" too close from a voting center, taking a picture of the one documenting the abuse.

7:20 AM

There are traditions, but....

In 2013 I wrote what I was hoping to be my last election day post. Today I am not going to write down what had become a tradition of sorts for this blog. Since that fateful April 2013 my life and moods and priorities have experienced dramatic changes. It has been for me a significant effort to write down that recent series of YV-X articles on the election held today (YV is the international code for Venezuela). As a consequence of erratic writing and unrestrained bitching all my blog parameters have gone down (to the levels I had in 2010, which were already respectable nevertheless).  The secret of successful blogging is regularity in publication and mood, if possible. And that I have not been able to provide. Yet these election day posts were usually my top visited posts of the year, which makes me feel a little bit guilty toward faithful readers.

In addition this year I have not left for Yaracuy to vote. yet. The thing is that I am basically living in Caracas now for many, many reasons, from personal security to having to take care of my SO (now spouse, by the way). During part of today I will be travelling so as to reach San Felipe before polls close. I thought about not voting but I learned that the San Felipe district had become competitive and I would hate myself if we lost it for a single vote.  Also, after years of losing elections, for once I could place myself on the winning side.........

I will try from the road to Tweet or Instagram things if I come across noteworthy moments. And hopefully after 5 PM I may be able to cover some and update this post. But it is open so that readers who may want to share electoral information can go ahead in comments if they please as I will not be able to purvey then. Because with the arrest of Lopez and exile of others and my own changes I have lost track of my informants and I am now just a spectator like you guys. O tempora..