Venezuela To Compete In The Referendum Olympics

The people have spoken. Well, at least 408,000 of them, which is double the amount needed for the National Electoral Council (CNE) to approve the first step in recalling President Nicolas Maduro. Venezuela’s opposition party, the Democratic Unity (MUD) coalition, collected signatures to oust Maduro but for awhile their efforts seemed futile. The government vowed there would be no referendum, conveniently slowing the process of verifying signatures. It even launched around 9,000 lawsuits alleging massive fraud in signature collection.  Well, the election board confirmed that 98% of the first 408,000 signatures were validated. 

What happens next?

If Maduro loses a referendum in 2016 – and polls indicate he would – it would initiate a new presidential vote, giving the opposition a chance to end 17 years of the Socialist Party’s rule. The opposition is begging the CNE to set a date for the next stage of the recall process, one that is so insanely stressful, it will feel like an Olympic sport. To get past that hurdle, they will have to collect four million signatures in just three days. On your mark…get set…