Venezuelan election body launches validation of signatures for recall referendum

Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) on Monday launched the validation process of 1,352,052 signatures on a petition to hold a recall referendum on President Nicolas Maduro.

The CNE has installed biometric scanners at its regional branches in the country's 24 states, and registered voters have until Friday to validate their signatures, the president of the electoral body, Tibisay Lucena, announced in early June.

The validation process represents the second step of the petition process, after the country's right-wing coalition, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), organized a signature drive and submitted just under 2 million signatures.

The CNE found some 605,727 signatures to be fake or fraudulent. The ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) has called for an investigation into the irregularities, such as including the names of deceased or non-existent voters, or minors.

Accredited observers from both the MUD and the PSUV will be monitoring the process, which will be followed by a revision of the validated signatures until July 26.

Venezuela's Constitution allows for a recall referendum on the president, but the lengthy process cannot be completed this year, officials have said.

Maduro, who was elected in 2013, is presiding over an acute economic crisis aggravated by deep divisions within the Venezuelan society. Endit