Hacks and leaks of Venezuela voting confirm suspicions of election fraud, tech experts say
The United States and the European Union know the real winner of Sunday’s presidential election in Venezuela, according to a Norwegian technology expert. “They had the data even before the Venezuela election committee declared [Nicolas] Maduro the winner,” says Karsten Sørensen, director of a multi-university technology center in Oslo.
Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro after being named winner of Sunday’s election.
When asked who won, Sørensen said simply, “It was not Maduro.”
Sørensen, formerly a research director at the EU’s Competence Centre on Technology Transfer, said the election information received by the EU was either hacked or leaked. “I am not sure how it was delivered but given the high interest in the election, I suspect some of it came directly from the IT people at the elections office over there.”
Sørensen refused to say which EU office or officers were in possession of the data.
“What I am aware of is that there are six complete voting files that are in circulation,” Sørensen said. “One of the files is suspect but the other five are in 100% correspondence.”
He added that the United States State Department as well as the technology office of the Organization of American States also have the election files.
A French acquaintance of Sørensen’s, confirms his claims, although he believes there are 10 or more leaked or hacked election files. “I believe the EU has all of them and has confirmed their accuracy, but they have gone to other governments and individuals as well,” says Jacques, who asked that his last name not be used.
“It is not unusual that unofficial election files are obtained by intelligence services and private actors and it is one way world leaders know if the announced results are accurate,” Jacques says. “This is understood by all parties and since there is rarely an attempt to tamper with the vote totals, it is rarely an issue. Venezuela’s files are easy to verify since they use voting machines. With paper ballots, there is the human factor to consider, and this is why vote monitors are important.”
Because of the controversy surrounding Maduro, Sunday’s election attracted a high level of international attention, Jacques says. “There was real drama surrounding it and the drama built when the voting office didn’t release the results immediately after voting stations closed,” Jacques says. “It took five or six hours, and the people tracking the phone calls between the Venezuela election staff and government officials say there was quite a lot of talking going on. Then, the calls stopped and the so-called election results were announced a few minutes later. Obviously, those involved in the conversations had arrived at a decision.”
Even when the elections commission released its result, it was botched, Jacques says. “The first state tv announcement listed all the candidates with their percentages and when you added it up, it totaled 132%,” he said. “You would think someone would have checked the addition.”
Brussels-based technology writer Jan Govaerts says the Maduro government doesn’t care that it has been caught red-handed. “They plan to stonewall it, stick to their numbers even though the world knows it’s a lie,” he says. “Maduro and his lieutenants have a lot to lose if they admit defeat — they would probably face long prison terms – so why not stick to the lie. They’ve gotten away with it so far.”
Although governments cannot admit they have acquired the election results through unofficial channels, it emboldens them to claim that fraud has occurred, says Govaerts. “Several presidents have already come out and said it, something they would not do if there was any doubt. Because they have the real numbers, they are confident in making the call.”
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Credit: Aftenposten, Journal de Bruxelles
