Date: 27 July 2025
Place: Caracas, Venezuela
Written by: Dr Nonkululeko Mantula
The dawn of democratic elections has been the center of many riots and unrest in many countries. The Western media has used the electoral process to poke holes in the stability and progressiveness of nations by reporting mainly flawed views of the actual activities by communities during their voting.
The Caracas Mayoral elections were far from the sensational negativity reported by Western media houses; it was a peaceful and jovial election day.
The masses of Venezuelans living in Caracas were up early in the morning to cast their votes in polling stations that had visible police presence and official representatives. Instead of fear and discomfort, the voters were ushered into well-organized voting rooms with a clearly marked process to cast their votes for the new mayor of Caracas, which is the capital city of Venezuela.
The Process: voters enter the room and their identity document is verified, then their fingerprint is taken to ensure that each person only casts one vote. Then the voter goes to a private booth with both a manual and an electronic voting ballot. This process ensures that the electronic votes tally with the manual vote, eliminating the possibility of rigging and manipulation. Once the ballot has been marked by the voter, they then take the paper ballot to the tightly secured ballot box placed in the center of the room. Voting done.
Outside the two voting stations, I went to observe that the spirits were high with the joy of liberation. There was music, drumming, people cheering, and chanting with joy. Young and old showed solidarity in the process, a side of the story never shared by most protagonist, because it doesn’t serve their nefarious purposes.
The process of counting and verifying the votes is then left to the officials at the end of voting day. Here, there will be counters from various parties, independent officials, and election observers to ensure that the tally is correct.
If we are to see the rise of the Global South, we need to echo the progress of each country at every opportunity. We need to amplify the great efforts to liberate and emancipate ourselves from the imperialism lashed out by the West.
Elections without the interference of an unseen third hand are absolutely possible. The great city of Caracas is a sterling example of this.